{LIBRARY QJ CONGRESS. 

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} UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J .j 



THE GOSPEL MINISTRY, 



IN 



A SERIES OF LETTERS 

FROM A FATHER TO HIS SONS. 



BY T^HE 

Key. WM. S. WHITE, D. D. 






LEXINGTON, YA. 



it 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 

NO. 821 CHESTNUT STREET. 






^ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

JAMES DUNLAP, Treas., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District 
of Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPED BY WILLIAM W. HARDING, PHILADELPHIA. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



t: 



TO THE 

STUDENTS 

OP 

UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINAKY, YA. 

THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR, 

WITH AFFECTIONATE AND PRAYERFUL SOLICITUDE, 

THAT THEY MAY BLEND THOROUGH SCHOLARSHIP WITH 

GROWING PIETY, AND CONSUMMATE PRUDENCE WITH 

BURNING ZEAL J SO AS TO SCATTER THE LIGHT 

OF LIFE, BREAK THE POWER OF SIN, GIVING 

PEACE TO MEN, AND GLORY TO GOD. 

(3) 



INTRODUCTION 



The following letters were actually written 
to one son preparing for the work of the ministry, 
and to another just entering upon that work. 
For reasons that need not now be stated, they 
were first published in the Central Presbyterian 
of Richmond, Va. They were prompted by the 
consideration, that parental responsibility does 
not cease until life ends. At every stage of our 
being, there are lessons to be learned which 
none but a father can teach, and influences to 
be felt which none but a father can exert ; and 
the son wisely instructed, and governed in child- 
hood and youth, will accept with thankfulness 
these lessons, and yield with cheerfulness 
to these influences, even when his own head 
1* (5) 



6 INTKODUCTIOIS'. 

has grown gray with years. Children really 
brought up "in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord," never think with pleasure, but with 
pain, of the time when the law of the land 
discharges them from parental authority. The 
language of such is, " It is my father's preroga- 
tive to command, and both my duty and my 
privilege to obey, so long as I need his authority, 
or he needs my help." 

A father, once writing to an absent son, on 
his twenty -first birth day, said with pleasantry, 
that the chief design of writing on that day, was 
to absolve him from further allegiance and 
declare him free. The son had already reached 
a position in life both honourable and lucrative. 
To the surprise of the father, he replied in a 
very serious strain, declaring that the day had 
been one of much sadness to him, because in the 
eye of the law, it terminated the period of his 
minority, and added, " My dear father, I 
neither expect nor desire to be freed from your 
authority, until you are translated to a better 
world." 

The first of these letters sets forth with suffi- 
cient distinctness, the design with which they 
were written. Both of these sons received their 



INTKODUCTION. 7 

theological training at Union Seminary, Prince 
Edward, Va. So high an estimate does the 
writer place on the extent and thoroughness of 
the instructions there given, that the thought 
never for a moment entered his mind of at- 
tempting to supplement those instructions. But 
his sole purpose was to insure the warmth of 
parental affection into the lessons already 
learned from the able and accomplished pro- 
fessor. 

Taken all together, they contain nothing but 
familiar hints on the most common place topics 
connected with the practical working of the 
christian ministry — hints drawn almost exclu- 
sively from an experience of thirty-three years 
spent in this great and blessed work. They 
are now transferred from the periodical to the 
bound volume at the earnest solicitation of many 
friends both in and out of the ministry, to 
whose judgment the writer trusts rather than 
to his own. 

Should they contribute in any degree to 
render those to whom they were written or 
those who may read them, wiser, happier, or 
more useful men : should they serve to give 
distinctness to the conceptions of the young 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

man preparing to preach, or to lighten the 

burden which presses upon the young man 

beginning to preach, the highest expectations 
of the author will be realized. 

w. s. w. 

Lexington, Va. 
September 18, 1860. 



LETTERS TO 

E M. W., 



STUDENT IN THE SEMINARY. 

(9) 



LETTERS 
TO A THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 

LETTER I. 

My deak Soisr : — Your professors 
are worthy of your highest confi- 
dence, and warmest love. Their 
instructions are full and ample ; and 
instead of seeking to supplement 
those instructions, I only propose 
to address to you a few plain hints 
which may possibly serve to im- 
press what they teach, by adding to 
it the force of parental affection. 

The student in the Seminary 

differs from the pastor, as the cadet 

11 



12 LETTEKS TO A 

in the military academy differs 
from the soldier in camp, or on the 
field of battle. And as the study 
of fortification and gunnery differs 
from the application of what is thus 
learned to the privations of the 
camp, and the dangers of the field, 
so, in great measure, your present 
pursuits differ from those which 
await you in future life. But, do 
not push this thought too far. All 
your professors have been able and 
successful pastors, and are hence 
prepared so to illustrate theory by 
the results of a large experience, as 
to render your success in the work 
of the ministry, greatly dependent 
on the thoroughness of your studies 
in the Seminary. Whether in the 
Seminary or out of it — whether a 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 13 

student of theology, or a pastor, 
your avowed object is one. To this 
all your studies now, and all your 
labours hereafter must be directed. 
The grandeur and glory of this 
object transcends the highest con- 
ceptions of the mightiest mind. It 
occupied a prominent place in the 
counsels of Grod before the founda- 
tion of the world, and it holds an 
equally prominent place now in all 
the dispensations of providence 
and grace. For the attainment of 
this end, holy men of old both 
spake and wrote as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost. For 
this, Christ as man, lived, laboured, 
died ; and as Grod, arose from the 
dead and ascended into heaven. 
For this, Prophets and Apostles 



14 LETTERS TO A 

taught and suffered unto death, 
and the long line of martyrs soaked 
the earth with their blood. This 
object is nothing less than the 
restoration to man of the lost image 
and favour of Grod, the subversion 
of the empire of sin, and the 
universal establishment of the king- 
dom of the Prince of peace. 

This great work for which you 
are now preparing, may be divided 
into two general departments. To 
this division the Apostle refers 
when he says to the elders of Ephe- 
sus, u I kept back nothing that was 
profitable unto you, but have shewed 
you, and have taught you publicly 
and from house to house." Here, 
as in every thing, we are prone to 
extremes. Some rely almost ex- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 15 

clusively on the pulpit, others on 
pastoral visitation. 

Public preaching is the chief 
work of the ministry. It is this 
which Grod chiefly blesses, and to 
which we must mainly look. But 
both are necessary ; for both are 
ordained and sanctioned of heaven, 
and woe to him who neglects either. 
And woe to him who, while in the 
Seminary, fails to prepare fully for 
both. How can one hope to preach 
appropriately and usefully, unless 
he know the character and condition 
of the people ? How can he know 
how to adapt the remedy to the 
disease, unless he know the character 
and the extent of that disease ? 
And how can he know this without 
close and personal inquiry? His 



16 LETTEKS TO A 

inquiries must respect the peculiar 
type of the disease — the constitution 
of the patient, and as his practice 
proceeds he must inquire diligently 
into the effects produced by the 
remedies thus far prescribed. No 
doctor in the land can prosecute 
his calling successfully, by the 
delivery of lectures or the pre- 
scriptions of empiricism. He cannot 
hope to restore the inmates of an 
hospital by standing at the door 
and prescribing for those inmates 
in a body. He must go from couch 
to couch ; he must feel the pulse, 
and look into the eye, and into the 
mouth of every patient. 

So, he who would heal the " sin- 
sick soul" of man must do, or the 
patient must die. And unless you 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 17 

can acquire some skill in this 
department of our great calling, I 
shall almost fear to see you licensed. 
I have often listened to profound 
and eloquent sermons with unut- 
terable pain, because, notwithstan- 
ding their logic and their learning, 
they lacked appropriateness. The 
garment was of good materials, 
and well made, but it did not fit. 

Whether your spiritual charge is 
to be large or small, in the country, 
the village, or the city, an extensive 
and complicated system of moral 
machinery will be necessary. Peo- 
ple of all ranks, ages, and conditions 
must be reached and influenced. 

What reaches one will not touch 
another. Medicine which will cure 
one patient, will kill another. In- 
2 * 



18 LETTEES TO A 

deed that which will heal a given 
individual at one stage of his sick- 
ness will kill him in another. 
Some such view of the case Paul 
must have taken when he spoke of 
" rightly dividing the word of truth, 
and giving to each his portion in 
due season," and when he says, "if 
by any means I might save some." 
Go where you may, you will find 
some who are sceptical. This often 
results from wilful ignorance of 
God's truth ; is always accompa- 
nied by prejudice, and sometimes by 
inveterate and unconcealed hatred 
of all that is good. These men will 
not attend church, and are almost 
inaccessible in private. On other 
subjects they know much and reason 
acutely. They possess immense 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 19 

influence, and stand like impassable 
mountains in the preacher's way. 

Others go not so far. They simply 
care for none of these things. They 
are either inordinately anxious to 
make money if they are poor, or as 
anxious to keep and increase it if 
they are rich. They attend church, 
if they like the preacher. But 
" having ears, they hear not." 

Then there are those who profess 
respect for the gospel, and som§ 
willingness to sustain its institu- 
tions. They show the preacher 
kindness. If he is of a social turn, 
of good conversational powers, says 
little about religion and much about 
other things, their kindness will 
become very great. But they have 
doubts and difficulties far harder to 



20 LETTERS TO A 

meet and remove, than those of the 
first class, because they have really 
read and heard and thought far 
more on such subjects than they. 

jSText he finds the really awakened 
sinners, such as honestly and earnest- 
ly ask, What must we do to be saved ? 
Among such he finds persons of 
every grade in society, of every 
order of intellect, every measure of 
intelligence, brought up under 
widely different systems of educa- 
tion, and forms of family govern- 
ment ; with every conceivable shade 
of preconceived sentiment on reli- 
gious subj ects, and obstructed in their 
progress by obstacles as various as 
their characters. 

Kext appear the backsliders — 
those who had hastily made, and as 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 21 

hastily renounced a Christian pro- 
fession, whose last state is far worse 
than their first. The prospects of 
none are so dark, the case of none 
so hopeless, as of these. And they 
too are of all ages, ranks, and con- 
ditions. With minds dark as night, 
and hearts hard as stone, they re- 
ject the gospel offer. They tell of 
impositions formerly practised upon 
them, of their folly in yielding 
to priestcraft and many other such 
things — and then they trample on 
the blood of the covenant, and 
frown on those who point them to 
that blood. 

The church itself presents to the 
eye of the young preacher a scene 
often very discouraging. Here 
many denominations are seen, agree- 



22 LETTERS TO A 

ing in many things, but differing in 
others. They often depreciate or 
neglect the great truths in which 
they agree, and so magnify the 
smaller ones in which they differ, 
that they often do far more to hin- 
der than help each other. Their 
want of mutual confidence is often 
such, as to place them at the mercy 
of their common enemy, and exj3ose 
them all to a terrible defeat. 
In the same denomination, the 
grades of intelligence, and the de- 
grees of piety are almost infinite, 
so as often to obstruct the pastor's 
path, and almost crush his spirit. 

Then there are countless little 
factions of deluded errorists, who 
fall upon his field and deafen his 
ears with their buzzing and croak- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 23 

ing, as did the locusts and the frogs 
the Egyptians. 

Such is a hasty and very imper- 
fect glance at the field to be occu- 
pied, and of the materials out of 
which are to be gathered and fash- 
ioned the lively stones composing the 
spiritual temple of Zion's King. To 
cultivate such a field, to give the 
requisite form and beauty to those 
materials, calls for eminent learn- 
ing, consummate skill, untiring in- 
dustry, and ever brightening piety. 
Here is a great moral malady — 
various in its symptoms and its 
stages, for the healing of which you 
are now preparing. 

YOUK FOND FATHEK. 



24 LETTEES TO A 

LETTER II. 

My deae Son : — In occupying 
the field sketched in my last letter, 
and for which you are now prepar- 
ing, you will find ignorance to be 
instructed, prejudice to be removed, 
error to be corrected, enmity to be 
changed into love, guilt to be for- 
given, and impurity to be cleansed. 
A justly offended God must be pro- 
pitiated, the " sacramental host of 
God's elect" must be gathered and 
disciplined, and the undying souls 
of sinners must be saved. What 
then must the pastor be, and what 
must he do ? The whole field indi- 
cated by the above statement and 
questions would require volumes. 
I have undertaken merely to sug- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 25 

gest a few hints in a few familiar 
letters. 

As to the scholarship and the 
learning needful, I can only say, 
when you have thoroughly mas- 
tered all that is embraced in the 
admirable course pursued in your 
Seminary, you will only have made 
a good beginning. I therefore urge 
you not to neglect nor disparage 
any branch of knowledge embraced 
in that course, and not to harbour 
for a moment the thought of licen- 
sure, until that entire course is tho- 
roughly mastered. When know- 
ledge is increasing, the standard of 
scholarship in all our schools and 
colleges rising, when schools of 
medicine and law are multiplying 
and raising their professions far 
3 



26 LETTERS TO A 

above the rank they once held, shall 
we fall behind? I rejoice to know- 
that the professors who now fill the 
chairs in our Seminary, are wholly 
opposed to any retrograde move- 
ment on this subject. But this is a 
point I did not mean to touch, sim- 
ply because I was convinced you 
would not need even a word of cau- 
tion in regard to it from me. 

You are most in danger from 
a failure to cultivate a devotional 
spirit. A Theological Seminary, in 
its external arrangements — its build- 
ings — its lecture rooms, and its 
recitations; the intercourse of its 
students in the dining hall and 
upon the campus, is so much like a 
college, that the spirit of the college 
is very likely to prevail. The 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 27 

critical study of the Bible is likely 
to supplant the devotional. That 
all the young man says and does, 
even his sermons and his prayers, 
should be subject to the criticism 
of his fellow students and professors, 
although useful and necessary, may 
yet become hurtful to his spiritual- 
ity. JSTow, whatever else he neglects, 
he must not neglect the throne of 
grace. Fail in all else sooner, than 
in the cultivation of deep spiritual 
piety. Fail in this, and whatever 
your attainments in other respects 
may be, should you live to enter 
the ministry, comfortless and useless 
you will live, labour, and die. Mere 
intellectual endowments, leading to 
popular applause, more frequently 
entangle, bewilder, and ruin the 



28 LETTERS TO A 

young preacher than all other baits 
of the devil combined. As to such 
endowments, Balaam possessed them 
in a very high degree, and Satan, 
the master of Balaam, possesses 
them in a higher degree than 
he. If he thus gain popular ap- 
plause, he should not forget that it 
was to Simon Magus, " that all 
gave heed from the least to the 
greatest," and that it was of him 
the populace said, " This man is the 
great power of Grod." 

One has truthfully and beautifully 
said, that " prayer is the breathing 
forth of that grace which is first 
breathed into the soul by the Holy 
Ghost." Every offering then, not 
made in the spirit of such prayer, 
is destitute of the purity and fra- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 29 

grance of heaven ; and is not only- 
unacceptable but hateful to God ; 
so that prayerless study, prayerless 
preaching and visiting are worse 
than useless. What does not come 
from Grod never returns to him. 
All our services not baptized by 
the Spirit, freely given in answer to 
prayer, will be less acceptable to 
Grod than the offerings of paganism. 
Many even labour for years — labour 
industriously and skilfully, yet lit- 
tle or no fruit appears. Saints are 
not edified nor sinners saved. The 
garden of the Lord is rendered 
neither fragrant nor fruitful under 
his culture. And yet, he is admired 
for his good manners and good sense. 
Crowds attend upon his ministra- 
tions and admire his eloquence. 
3* 



30 LETTEKS TO A 

Many such cases exist. How shall 
they be explain ed ? What is lacking ? 
He does not pray. Secretly it may 
be, yet really, there lurks in his 
heart a feeling of dependence on the 
orthodoxy, or the logic, or the 
eloquence of his sermons ; on the 
multiplicity of his labours, or on 
the hold he has on the confidence 
and love of his people. He knows 
better. He knows, theoretically 
at least, that the excellency of the 
power is of God. And yet such 
thoughts obtrude, bewilder, and 
weaken, because he does not really 
watch unto prayer. 

Suffer me then to enlarge on a 
thought already suggested. When 
we come really near to God, he 
freely grants us the sweet influences 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 31 

of his grace — " all grace comes from 
the God of grace" — all that begins 
and completes the life of God in the 
soul of man. The soul enlightened 
and warmed by a near approach to 
the true altar, radiates both light 
and heat, and thus creates an atmos- 
phere which refreshes, beautifies, 
and strengthens all who breathe it. 
11 The river comes originally from 
the ocean, and not even the range 
of rocky mountains can prevent its 
return to the ocean. So, that alone 
which comes from God can return 
to God." Hence we feel and exhibit 
just so much of heaven, as we feel 
and manifest of the spirit of prayer. 
From this source alone can come 
our usefulness. 

Whatever else a man may have 



32 LETTERS TO A 

or do, he never does, he never can 
become the channel through which 
Grod pours his grace upon the hill 
of Zion, unless he lives in constant, 
spiritual contact with heaven. He 
must bring Grod to his people be- 
fore he can lift them to heaven. 

Then whatever else you neglect, 
fail not to study upon your knees, 
such expressions of the word of Grod 
as these, " And this is the confidence 
Ave have in him, that if we ask any 
thing according to his will, he 
heareth us." u Whatsoever things 
ye desire when ye pray, believe 
that ye receive them and ye shall 
have them." " Ask in faith." 

One has said, " If the thing desired 
be not in the promise, it is a sin to 
pray for it. If it be, it is a sin not 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 33 

to believe that we shall have it." 
We pray in faith, when our expecta- 
tions spring not from our sensible 
enjoyments, our freedom of utter- 
ance, from the numbers who join 
with us, or from their or our 
apparent fervour, but simply and 
solely from the testimony of God — 
from the ability, worth, and willing- 
ness of Christ to fulfil the terms of 
the covenant. Such a spirit of 
prayer is the first, the highest 
endowment of the ministry to which 
you now look forward. It is equally 
essential to your present condition 
and pursuits. Think not that this 
may be acquired hereafter. Just as 
well defer the study of Hebrew, 
church history, or theology. Nay, 
just as well, and even better. 



34 LETTEKS TO A 

leave the Seminary at once. As is 
the student, so will be the preacher. 
An exception to this remark occa- 
sionally occurs, but there are just 
exceptions enough to establish the 
rule. Let all you now learn be 
baptized in a heart burning with 
love to Christ, and breaking with 
compassion for deathless souls 
perishing in sin. Let every day 
begin and end with the thought, 
44 I am here, not to acquire learning 
with a view to win popular applause, 
but through Grod to acquire skill 
in winning souls to Christ." 

YOUB FOjN t D FATHEK. 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 35 

LETTER III. 

My deak Sox : — What was said 
in my last letter of the importance 
of the cultivation of a devotional 
spirit, by no means precludes the 
necessity of skilful and vigorous 
effort. It cannot be too often re- 
peated, that " prayer without effort 
is presumption, and effort without 
prayer is atheism." 

The young man who goes reput- 
ably through the Seminary, who 
studies and prays as he ought to do, 
will secure the approbation of his 
professors, and the admiration of 
his fellow-students. The hopes of 
his Presbytery and his friends may 
be excited in a high degree. And 
yet in the work of the ministry he 



36 LETTERS TO A 

may fail. The hopes excited may 
soon be withered. A vacant church 
once applied to a minister of much 
experience to know, whether a young 
man recently from the Seminary, 
would suit as their pastor. The re- 
ply was substantially as follows : 
" I regard the young man of whom 
you inquire, as pious, intelligent, 
and industrious. Indeed his schol- 
arship is of a very high grade ; his 
sermons, both in matter and style, 
are far above mediocrity ; and his 
anxiety to be useful very great. 
But still I am afraid he will not 
succeed ; and I cannot commend 
him as likely to suit your people." 
Now one is curious to know what 
could be lacking in the qualifica- 
tions of that young man. It is 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 37 

verv evident that with such high 
qualities as he confessedly possessed, 
there could be no serious defect. 
Now, trivial as it may have seemed 
at the time, it was still sufficient to 
drive him about from church to 
church, making some friends and 
some enemies, yet doing no percep- 
tible good for many years. All he 
seemed to lack was that rare but 
invaluable quality, common sense. 

If you have access to Kennedy's 
life of William Wirt, you will find 
in volume 2nd and page 209, a let- 
ter to one of his daughters, in which 
he speaks of common sense and 
. genius in contrast. He says, " Com- 
mon sense is a much rarer quality 
than genius. It is not, as superficial 
thinkers are apt to suppose, a mere 

4 



38 LETTERS TO A 

negative faculty — it is a positive fac- 
ulty, and one of the highest power. 
It is this faculty that instructs when 
to speak, when to be silent, when to 
act, and when to be still ; and more- 
over it teaches us what to speak and 
what to suppress, what to do and 
w r hat to forbear. Wow, pause a 
moment, and reflect on the number 
of faculties which must be combined 
to constitute this common sense ; a 
rapid and profound foresight to cal- 
culate the consequences of what is 
to be said or done, a rapid circum- 
spection and extensive comprehen- 
sion so as to be sure of taking in all 
the circumstances which belong to 
the case, and missing no figure in 
this arithmetic of the mind, and an 
accuracy of decision which must be 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 39 

as quick as lightning, so as not to 
let the occasion slip. See what a 
knowledge of life, either by experi- 
ence or intuition, and what a happy 
constitutional poise between the 
passions and the reason, or what a 
powerful self-command, all enter 
into the composition of that little, 
demure, quiet, unadmired, and al- 
most despised thing, called common 
sense. It pretends to no brilliancy, 
for it possesses none ; it has no os- 
tentation, for it has nothing to show 
which the world admires. The 
constant and powerful action of the 
intellect, which makes its nature, is 
unobserved even by the proprietor ; 
for every thing is done with intu- 
itive ease, with a sort of uncon- 
scious felicity. See, then, the quick 



40 LETTERS TO A 

and piercing sagacity, the prophetic 
penetration, the wide comprehen- 
sion, and the prompt and accurate 
judgment, which combine to con- 
stitute common sense, which is as 
inestimably valuable as the solar 
light and as little thought of," 

Of genius without common sense, 
he says, u It is a fever of the brain — 
sparkling with delirious brilliancy, 
a nocturnal exhibition of fire-works 
in a state of rapid metamorphosis ; 
now it is a horizontal hoop turning 
and whizzin g and cracking and shoot- 
ing off its lateral spouts of fire — 
and then it plays at blind man's buff, 
and moves about as confidently as 
if it had its eyesight ; then bump 
goes its nose against the mantle- 
piece, and then the blood flows ; it 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 41 

turns in a different direction, and 
smack go its shins against a sofa, 
and blood flows again — it drops its 
hands and they are seized by a dog; 
it picks up what it supposes to be a 
stick to strike the dog, and it 
proves to be a rattlesnake, which 
stings it to death — and such is 
genius." "Of itself it is a mere bed- 
lamite : but combine it with common 
sense, and you make it a radiant 
seraph. That is the union w r hich 
my soul delights to honour." 

Now glance again at the work for 
which you are preparing, and tell 
me if there is a profession on earth 
which calls more loudly for the con- 
stant exercise of common sense. 
You are to deal with men, " dead 

in trespasses and sins." Your 
4 * 



42 LETTEES TO A 

great object will be to raise them 
into newness of life. You must 
therefore be prepared to answer 
numberless questions relating to 
the interests of three worlds. You 
must remove doubt, quiet fear, si- 
lence prejudice, encourage the timid, 
alarm the secure, humble the proud, 
rebuke the impertinent. You must 
be skilful in guiding the judgments, 
the emotions, the consciences of men, 
and all this you must do, so as not 
" to break the bruised reed, nor 
quench the smoking flax." Surely 
this demands " skill and expedient," 
so as to know what will perplex, as 
well as what will enlighten and 
guide. Cecil says, " The minister 
is a fisherman. If some fish will 
bite only by day, he must fish by 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 43 

day; if others will bite only by 
moon-light, he must fish for them 
by moon-light. He has an engine 
to work, and it must be his most 
assiduous endeavour to work his 
engine to the full extent of its 
powers, and to ascertain its pow- 
ers in the first step towards suc- 
cess." 

For such work the greatest pru- 
dence and the highest wisdom are 
requisite. Here the rash, the im- 
petuous, the timid, the vacillating — 
however learned, or however pious, 
invariably fail. You aspire to be 
the leader of the " sacramental host 
of Grod's elect," in its never ceasing 
conflict with the powers of darkness, 
and to do this successfully, yours 
must be the skill and courage of the 



44 LETTEES TO A 

most accomplished general. You 
must know how and where to en- 
trench your forces — when to fight, 
and when to fly — when to resort to 
lawful stratagem, and when to in- 
vite to public combat. In all this 
common sense must hold the helm. 

Learn before you enter upon this 
mighty conflict to distinguish wisely 
between mere rashness and true 
courage — between genuine humility 
and arrant cowardice. To drive 
headlong, utterly regardless of con- 
sequences — to be indifferent as to 
whether you are to vanquish your 
foe, or he vanquish you — to expose 
your own forces at every point to 
the hottest fire of the enemy, — this 
is not courage, but madness. 

He is the fearless minister who 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 45 

neither fears groundless censure, 
nor covets unhallowed applause ; 
who feels under no obligation to try 
to please every body, nor yet seeks 
to provoke any. "It is a foolish 
project," says Cecil, " to avoid giv- 
ing offence ; but it is our duty to 
avoid giving unnecessary offence. 
It is necessary offence, if it is given 
by the truth ; but it is unnecessary, 
if it be occasioned by our own 
spirit." 

When a man's good sense, intel- 
ligence, amiability, and piety, ac- 
companied by affability and indus- 
try, are known and read of all men ; 
then, if he " speak the truth in 
love," he never can give " unneces- 
sary offence." 

Such will be the hold he will 



46 LETTEKS TO A 

have upon the confidence and the 
love of his people, that he may re- 
buke with all plainness and even 
severity, and no clamour will be 
raised to disturb his peace or im- 
pair his usefulness. By a law of 
our being we can only excite in the 
breasts of others the emotions which 
burn in our own. Anger begets 
anger, and love begets love. 

" I wish I could make that teacher 
angry," said a bad girl once to her 
school-mate, " for then I could be 
angry myself, and not be ashamed 
to show it." If joy is ever felt in 
the world of darkness, methinks it 
is, when students of Theology, and 
still more, when ministers of the 
Prince of peace, are found so ignor- 
ant of the dictates of common sense 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 47 

as to attempt the prosecution of 
their work rashly and recklessly. 

Your fond father. 



LETTER IV. 



My dear Sox, — I have thus far 
spoken of the importance of intelli- 
gence, piety, and skill in the minister 
of the gospel. There are matters 
of far less consequence than these, 
and because they are less important, 
they are sadly overlooked. But 
the want of a quality in itself of 
small value, may seriously impair 
the usefulness of a minister, in 
many respects, richly endowed. 
That now in my mind was made 



48 LETTEES TO A 

the subject of a volume by the late 
venerable and honoured Dr. Samuel 
Miller, so long an ornament to 
Princeton Seminary, and still, 
through his descendants and his 
writings, a blessing to the world. 
This volume bears the unpretending 
title of " Letters to a Theological 
Student, on clerical manners and 
habits." It was first published in 
1827, and I well remember in what 
terms of disparagement it was at 
first spoken of by some, whose 
position in society and even in the 
ministry, most unhappily, as I con- 
ceive, checked its circulation and 
weakened its influence. Its ful- 
ness of instruction, and minuteness 
of detail, may detract from its value 
to some ; but still it wel] deserves 



JTEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 49 

and will richly repay the attention 
of every student of Theology. I 
recommend this book to your 
serious attention. The second and 
fourth letters should be committed 
to memory, and the third should 
be read more than once. 

Manner may be almost said to 
make the man, and yet some, who 
have been distinguished for their 
talents and piety, have spoken of it 
in terms of disparagement. Of 
these John Wesley was one. On 
one occasion while addressing the 
preachers under his superinten- 
dence, he said, " You have no more 
to do with being gentlemen than 
dancing masters," and even the 
great and good Richard Cecil has 

endorsed this sentiment, and said 
5 



50 LETTERS TO A 

of himself and his brethren, " We 
are more concerned to be thought 
gentlemen than ministers. Now 
being desirous to be thought a man 
who has kept good company, strikes 
at the root of that rough work, the 
bringing of God into his world. 
It is hard and rough work to bring 
Grod into his own world." 

Now, to be ik more concerned to 
be thought gentlemen than minis- 
ters" is indeed a sin of no ordinary 
turpitude. And if the church was 
cursed with such in Cecil's day, he 
did well to rebuke them with 
severity. Nor will I complain of 
his saving it " is hard work to bring 
Grod into his own world." But I 
am far from believing that it is 
rough work, if by this he means, 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 51 

as the connection in which he uses 
the term seems to intimate, that it 
must be clone in any other way 
than that which comports with all 
that is deemed becoming among 
well bred people. Such expressions, . 
from so high a source, contribute in 
no small degree to form in ministers, 
a system of manners so rough and 
even boorish as to render them the 
objects of ridicule among the truly 
polished and refined. I have known 
the usefulness of some ministers 
sadly lessened in this way. " The 
field is the world/' and he who 
seeks to cultivate that field must be 
fitted to find access to every part 
of it. He must be both accessible 
and acceptable among the educated 
and uneducated, the polished and 



52 LETTERS TO A 

the unpolished. Not that he must 
seek to please people of all habits 
and all tastes. Not that he must 
adopt either the dress or the address, 
which is popular among the gay, 
the frivolous, and the sensual. But 
while he avoids the extreme of 
dandyism on the one hand, and of 
clownishness on the other; while he 
is neither frivolous nor rude, he 
should ever seek to be the christian 
gentleman. 

M By good manners," says Dr. 
Miller, " I beg you will understand 
me to mean, those manners which 
christian purity and benevolence 
recommend, and which, where those 
graces reign, they will ever be 
found substantially to produce." 

Dr. Witherspoon, in his Letters 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 53 

on Education, strongly urges the 

utility and importance of polished 

manners, and remarks, " that true 

religion is not only consistent with, 

but necessary to the perfection of 

true politeness," and fortifies this 

opinion by the " noble sentiment 

of the Prince of Conti, viz : ' that 

worldly politeness is no more than 

an imitation or imperfect copy of 

christian charity, being the pretence 

or outward appearance of that 

deference to the judgment, and 

attention to the interests of others, 

which a true christian has as the 

rule of his life and the disposition 

of his heart.' " 

This is a matter of far more 

consequence than many suppose. 

The minister perpetually meets 
5* 



54 LETTEKS TO A 

with people who are far better 
judges of his manners than of his 
mind — of his bearing than of his 
preaching. And they judge of him, 
as they see and understand him. 
The result of this is, that the easy, 
affable, and polite manners of the 
christian gentleman will often 
secure a cordial reception to him 
who cultivates them, and even to 
the sacred message he bears ; when 
one superior to him in every thing 
but in manners is treated with 
neglect, if not with scorn. 

Even the uneducated and un- 
polished are pleased with polished 
manners in their minister, provided 
he is humble and kind. A congrega- 
tion of coloured people once com- 
plained of a minister, because he 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 55 

acted towards them, and preached 
to them as if he thought " they had 
no sense and no manners." 

Take the following statement 
from Dr. Miller : " One of the 
most excellent ministers I ever 
knew, a man of refinement and 
polish, as well as of ardent piety, 
exceeded most of my clerical ac- 
quaintances in his incessant atten- 
tions to the poor. He would go to 
the houses of the meanest and 
poorest, with an ease and freedom 
truly exemplary, would seat him- 
self on a broken stool or block of 
wood, and appear to enjoy himself 
as if he was in the most convenient 
parlour ; and would, with a singular 
felicity of manner, place those whom 
he addressed just as much at ease, 



56 LETTERS TO A 

as if they were conversing with an 
equal. It was in reference to him 
that a poor, but eminently pious, 
old woman said, — " sir, you can- 
not think how kind and good he 
is. He's not a bit of a gentleman. 
He comes in and sits down in my 
poor place here, just as if he had 
been used to being with the like of 
me all his days." The Dr. adds, 
" Though I knew the venerable 
man to be a real and uncommonly 
well-bred gentleman, I was par- 
ticularly struck with the old 
woman's significant language, and 
thought it one of the highest compli- 
ments she could have paid him. 
She had, no doubt, been accustomed 
to associate, in her own mind, the 
title of gentleman with manners of 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 57 

the supercilious and revolting kind. 
An association to which, I am 
sorry to say, the manners of many, 
who would be thought real gentle- 
men, give too much countenance." 
Some such association must also 
have existed in the minds of Weslev 

V 

and Cecil. 

This matter is often better under- 
stood and practised by physicians 
than preachers. The members of 
those two professions resemble each 
other in this, that they must be quite 
as familiar in the cottages of the poor 
as in the palaces of the rich. They 
necessarily practise a great deal 
together, and each should learn 
from the other. I have often felt 
rebuked by seeing myself so im- 
measurably surpassed by him who 



58 LETTEKS TO A 

ministers to the body, in the ease 
with which he w^ould seat himself 
by the sick bed of the humblest and 
rudest patient, and by brief and 
simple questions, interspersed with 
expressions of sympathy and kind- 
ness, draw from the sufferer all 
that it was needful for him to 
know. In such situations all reserve 
and austerity must be banished. 
Use the simplest language. If you 
have occasion to recommend a book 
for a sick child ; don't say "it is 
well adapted to the juvenile reader," 
but say, "it is well suited to the 
young reader." Instead of " interro- 
gatory" say u question." Instead of 
" averse to Grod," say " opposed." 
When the poor mother wants to 
know what you think of the condi- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 59 

tion of herself or sick child, and 
there is improvement — say " better/' 
in place of " convalescent.' And so 
of a thousand other words. I think 
it was Hobbes who said, " words are 
the counters of wise men, the 
money of fools." 

As I have referred to physicians, 
let me say, that preachers often 
misunderstand them. In an ex- 
perience of thirty- one years in the 
ministry, I have met with but one 
of this noble profession of whom I 
have had reason to complain, and 
he soon confessed and apologized 
for his folly. But then you must 
satisfy them that you have common 
sense ; that you no more believe in 
nostrums for the mind than for the 
body ; that as they must have 



60 LETTEES TO A 

respect to the mind in their treat- 
ment of the body, so you must 
regard the body in your treatment 
of the mind. 

Your fond father. 



LETTER V, 



My dear Son : — In my last it 
was intimated, that very much de- 
pended both upon the dress and the 
a^-dress of a teacher. Now, to 
give undue attention to these be- 
tokens littleness of mind. It is im- 
possible to make wise people believe, 
that a head contains much brains, 
that can be made giddy by a bonnet 
or a hat. And yet the " outward 
adorning of putting on of apparel" 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 61 

lias its place and its uses. Un- 
affected neatness is the true defini- 
tion of becoming dress in all per- 
sons, and should be rigidly adopted 
by the student of theology and the 
minister of the gospel. 

It was once quite common for 
each denomination of Christians — 
and especially for the ministers of 
each — to be readily distinguished 
by a peculiarity of manner, dress, 
and even intonation of voice. This 
is highly objectionable. No such 
badge of distinction should exist 
among the well bred of any profes- 
sion. The minister with a well 
trained mind, and cultivated taste, 
should not differ in these respects 
from the pious lawyer, doctor, mer- 
chant, or farmer, of similar culture 



62 LETTERS TO A 

— unless indeed, an exception be 
made in the case of the plain black 
suit for the minister. 

Some ministers appear to think, 
that their manners in the parlour 
must be the same as in the pulpit. 
They deem it proper and indeed 
necessary to preach every where, 
and essentially in the same style. 
They forget that they meet with 
their friends in the social circle, as 
equals, and they must not dictate 
here, so much as converse. Every 
thing is beautiful in its season. 
Some seem not to understand the 
true import of the plain, old-fash- 
ioned word, conversation. Web- 
ster's definition of the word, is this: 
" Familiar discourse, general inter- 
course of sentiments ; chat ; unre- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 63 

strained talk, opposed to a formal 
conference ;" and I beg leave to add, 
opposed to formal speechifying. 
It includes both aptness to talk, and 
aptness to listen, and also a know- 
ing when to do the one, and when 
the other. Plain and pious people 
show such deference to preachers, 
are so fond of hearing them talk, 
that they are often unwittingly led 
to engross the conversation to a 
censurable extent. With us old 
men, this temptation, added to the 
constitutional garrulity of age, some- 
times leads us to " talk an infinite 
deal of nothing." But even this is 
not so censurable in the old as in 
the young. 

While some err by seeking to 
carry the pulpit into the parlour, 



64 LETTERS TO A 

others go to a far more common and 
mischievous extreme. These leave 
the minister in the pulpit, and take 
only the gentleman into the par- 
lour: and having been solemn and 
weighty in the former, they become 
so frivolous and frothy in the latter, 
that it is hard to realize that he 
who prayed so fervently andpreached 
so eloquently, can be the same man 
whose " foolish jesting" now fills 
the room with boisterous merriment. 
I once heard a distinguished lay- 
man say of a somewhat noted 
preacher, "When he is in the pulpit, 
I wish he would never leave it, and 
when out, I wish he would never 
enter it." The reason he gave for 
this strange wish, was, u that he 
was so much of a preacher in the 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 65 

pulpit, and so little of one out of 
it." 

William Jay, in his life of Cor- 
nelius Winter, makes the following 
extract from one of his letters, to a 
young minister, " May you have 
wisdom to keep conversation from 
degenerating in the least degree. 
Connect piety with cheerfulness ; 
"but let not the former be driven 
out by the latter. Keep not all 
your religion for the pulpit ; have it 
at heart and at hand ; at dinner and 
at tea ; and let every occurrence fur- 
nish you with a subject for spiritual 
improvement." 

As to Mr. Winter's social habits, 

his biographer further states, that 

it was a fixed rule with him " never 

to write a letter without aliquid 
6* 



66 LETTEKS TO A 

Christi in it," and adds, " neither in 
his letters nor conversation were 
such reflections delivered quaintly, 
nor from a common place vocabu- 
lary, like those of some formal 
letters and writers, who have a 
number of sentences prepared for 
the occasion, artificially introduced, 
and used till they are worn out. 
His remarks grew out of present 
circumstances, they were the spon- 
taneous expressions of the moment, 
the natural effusions of a thoughtful 
mind, and a feeling heart. He was 
perpetually lamenting the waste of 
time by interruptions, and the loss 
of it by inability to improve it as 
he would. Referring to an engage- 
ment with a person of quality, he 
observes in one of his letters — " It 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 67 

gave me some little specimen of 
the attendance great people require, 
when they condescend to be friendly 
to a poor preacher, and I wish to 
know little of them, but with a 
design to do some little good by 
them. They make one spend more 
time to eat a dinner than seven of 
them are worth." 

That the preacher's influence in 
social intercourse should be felt for 
good, let him duly consider the 
following pertinent remarks made 
by Mr. Jay in the biography 
already referred to. " There is 
something defective," he says, 
" especially in a minister, unless 
his character produces an atmos- 
phere around him which is felt as 
soon as entered. It is not enough 



68 LETTEES TO A 

for him to have courage to reprove 
certain things ; he should have 
dignity enough to prevent them : 
and he will, if the Christian be 
commensurate with the preacher, 
and if he walk worthy of Grod who 
hath called us into his kingdom 
and glory." 

One has quaintly but truthfully 
said, that " we must not only give 
an account for idle words, but for 
idle silence also." Conversational 
powers are a gift to be " earnestly 
coveted by the minister of the 
gospel." Much of his time must be 
passed in society, and many of his 
fairest opportunities for usefulness 
will then occur. Yet theological 
students rarely seem to think that 
this is one of the qualifications for 



THEOLOGICAL STUDEXT. 69 

the ministry to be sought and im- 
proved in the Seminary. If every 
man cannot be agreeable and useful 
in society, he is at least bound not to 
be offensive in society. Dean Swift 
has said, " there are hundreds of 
men who might not only be agreea- 
ble, but really shine, who, on 
account of a few gross faults, which 
they might easily correct in half an 
hour, are, at present, not even 
tolerable. They pass through life 
not without usefulness, but are 
considered a nuisance wherever 
they go." Some from constitutional 
taciturnity — others from absence 
of mind — and others again from a 
want both of mind and heart, 
wrap themselves up, even in com- 
pany, in a mantle of moody silence, 



70 LETTERS TO A 

and seem to presume on being 
thought wise, only because they 
have nothing to say. Such ministers 
soon become a terror, especially to 
the young of their congregation. 
Some ministers are fitful — now a fit 
of moroseness seizes them, then of 
hilarity — now a fit of loquacity, 
then of silence. They claim from 
the people a great deal of indulgence, 
and yet far more than they deserve. 
Upon all proper occasions, both 
in public and in private, the 
preacher must render it obvious 
that his range of thought, his 
knowledge, his piety, his social 
qualities, all conspire to fit him to 
be both agreeable and useful in 
every circle to which his duty may 
call him. He need not, he should 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 71 

not seek to make a display of any 
thing lie possesses. This would be 
odious. But on all proper occasions, 
and in every proper way, he must 
show himself able to lead — other- 
wise, he may rely upon it, the 
people will not follow. 

I close this letter with a quotation 
from the Task of Cowper, which to 
some may seem too long, and to 
others too trite, but every line of 
which should not only be read, but 
studied by every student of theology 
in the land. 

" Would I describe a preacher such as Paul, 
Were he on earth, would hear, approve and own ; 
Paul should himself direct me. I would trace 
His master strokes, and draw from his design, 
I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; 
In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain, 
And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste, 
And natural in gesture, much impressed 



72 LETTEES TO A 

Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
May feel it too ; affectionate in look 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men. 
Behold the picture ! Is it like ? Like whom ? 
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, 
And then skip down again, pronounce a text, 
Cry — Hem , and reading what they never wrote, 
Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, 
And with a well bred whisper close the scene. 

In man or woman, but far most in man, 
And most of all in man that ministers 
And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe 
All affectation. 'Tis my perfect scorn ; 
Object of my implacable disgust. 
"What, will a man play tricks, will he indulge 
A silly, fond conceit of his fair form, 
And just proportion, fashionable mien, 
And pretty face in presence of his God ? 
Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes 
As with the diamond on his lily hand, 
And play his brilliant parts before my eyes, 
When I am hungry for the bread of life? 
He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames 
His noble office, and, instead of truth, 
Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock." 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 73 

This is but a part. Read the 
whole attentively. — Cowper's Task, 
Book 2. 

Your fond father. 



LETTER VI. 

My dear Son : — While in the 
Seminary, it is important for you to 
form just conceptions of the rela- 
tions sustained by the different la- 
bourers, whom God has appointed 
to take part in enlightening and 
saving the world. The pastor is 
not only not required, but he is not 
permitted to do every thing. It is 
just as improper for him to encroach 
upon the province of others, as it 
is for them to encroach upon 



74 LETTERS TO A 

him. The parent, the ruling elder, 
the deacon, the private member 
of the church, has his position 
and his work, as really, as divinely 
assigned to him, as the minister of 
the gospel. The orbits of each of 
these touch at many points, but 
should never come in conflict. 
Neither should ever seek to take 
the place of the other, still less 
should the work be expected to ad- 
vance when any one of them is 
found standing all the day idle. It 
is impossible to determine with per- 
fect accuracy where the responsi- 
bility of the one ceases, and that of 
the other begins. But this much is 
certain, that each must do his own 
work in its appropriate way, time, 
and place, or the hill of Zion will 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 75 

become a fruitless waste. " But 
now hath (rod set the members 
every one of them in the body, as 
it hath pleased him — and the eye 
cannot say unto the hand, I have 
no need of thee, nor again the head 
to the feet, I have no need of you." 
This illustration the apostle applies 
expressly to the different labourers 
in the vineyard of the Lord. See 
1st Corinthians, 12th chapter, with 
the excellent commentary of Dr. 
Hodge, recently published. 

Should you like to enter the 
ministry, you will find yourself at 
once side by side with the ruling 
elder — an officer who, by divine ap- 
pointment, stands but little lower 
than the preaching elder. From 
him you may expect your most ef- 



76 LETTEKS TO A 

ficient earthly hindrance or help. 
If he has been put into the elder- 
ship merely because there was no 
one else to fill this office — if he has 
never studied with due diligence 
either our Form of Government, 
Book of Discipline, or the Bible, 
with a view to learn his duty, you 
will find him ignorant, self-willed, 
and slothful to a degree that will 
threaten to crush your spirit. I 
have neither the time nor the heart 
to speak, as the sad truth would 
warrant, of the extent to which our 
young ministers suffer from this 
source. Inform yourself now fully 
as to the source, the nature, and the 
duties of this office, and should you 
commence your ministry where a 
church is already organized, let your 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 77 

labours begin with the ruling elders. 
If they cannot be induced to fit 
themselves fully for their work, and 
to enter upon it vigorously, you 
had better abandon the field. Of 
what use would it be to spend one's 
time in training the private soldiers 
of an army for conflict with the 
enemy, when the officers who are 
to lead these soldiers into battle, 
know little or nothing of their duty, 
and are unwilling to put in practice 
the little they know? The poor 
disheartened young preacher is often 
reproached for doing so little good, 
and sometimes for leaving now one, 
and then another half tilled field ; 
when, if the truth were known, it 
would appear that the blame should 
not rest upon him, but upon the 
7* 



78 LETTERS TO A 

ruling elders who are by far better 
informed about every thing they 
undertake, and prosecute with vastly 
more zeal their secular callings, 
than they do the work they have, 
" by covenant and by oath," en- 
gaged to do for God. I earnestly 
commend to you the thorough read- 
ing of Dr. Miller's work, and Rev. 
Mr. Ramsey's sermon on the elder- 
ship. Some one has said, " If the 
doctrine taught in Mr. Ramsey's 
sermon be sound, then we ought to 
have schools in which to train men 
for this office, as we now have The- 
ological Seminaries for the training 
of ministers." This w r as the lan- 
guage of one who found fault with 
the sermon. Now I accept the 
consequence as fairly deducible 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 79 

from the sermon, and maintain 
that if schools are not established 
for the purpose, there should be in 
every congregation some specific 
form of instruction framed and con- 
ducted, with a view to fit the young 
men of that congregation to fill va- 
cancies in the session, or to enlarge 
it from time to time as necessity 
may demand. Should you be sent 
as a missionary, as I hope you may 
be, to some fresh field where no 
organized church exists, be not too 
hasty in seeking an organization. 
Commonly, ladies join the church 
more readily than our sex, and 
they are worth far more when they 
join. So it seems to have been 
ever since the conversion of Lydia, 
which took place at a female prayer 



80 LETTERS TO A 

meeting, held on the river's side, 
through the instrumentality of that 
great missionary, the apostle Paul. 
I am far from advocating the ap- 
pointment of females to office in the 
church, but as there were, in Paul's 
day, " women who laboured with 
him in the gospel," whom he so 
warmly commends in several of his 
Epistles, so there are now. And I 
advise that if your labours begin as 
I have supposed, rather than en- 
cumber yourself with unsuitable 
elders, keep that matter in reserve, 
availing yourself, mean time, of a 
committee of ladies. An admirable 
supply of such may be found almost 
any where. 

Language cannot be plainer than 
that which makes it the duty of the 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 81 

ruling elder to help in overseeing 
the flock — visiting from house to 
house, conversing and praying with 
them — warning the unruly, comfort- 
ing the feeble minded. The pastor 
dispenses the truth on the Sabbath 
to the people in a body, then, through 
the week he, with the elders as his 
" help," must by personal inter- 
course help each to understand and 
apply the lessons publicly taught. 
The stated congregational prayer 
meeting should be conducted ordi- 
narily by the pastor, but as occasion 
may require by the elders. In ad- 
dition to this, there should be sev- 
eral district prayer meetings, held, 
if you please, on the same day or 
evening in the respective districts 



82 LETTEKS TO A 

of the congregation, and always 
conducted by the elders. 

The platform, as well as the 
pulpit, must be employed in the 
service of Christ ; and this is, and 
should be, as open to the ruling as 
preaching elder. For instruction 
on this point I beg that you will 
refer to Dr. Hanna's life of Dr. 
Chalmers ; vol. 2nd, appendix E. 
and F. In many of our churches 
ruling elders may be found, well 
fitted to occupy the platform at 
monthly concerts, on days of fasting 
and prayer, at the anniversaries of 
our various benevolent societies, in 
opposition to the making for gain, 
and the using as a luxury of all 
intoxicating liquors, in the support 
and defence of the cause of educa- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 83 

tion, and especially in our ec- 
clesiastical courts. Here is the wide 
and inviting field to which the eye 
of the church should be steadily 
directed in the election of ruling 
elders; to which they too should 
look, and for which, to a greater or 
less extent, they should prepare. 
This subject will be resumed here- 
after. 

Next to the ruling elder, I notice 
the parent. The domestic constitu- 
tion is of Divine appointment. 
Differing from the purely civil and 
the purely religious, it partakes of 
the nature of both. Here the church 
and the world meet, and here only 
can they rightfully meet. 

I am now concerned with that 
feature in the family which is 



84 LETTEES TO A 

sacred, and would ask, if this 
wonderful constitution was designed 
only, or chiefly for this world ? 
Surely not. This is apparent in its 
very structure. Groct instituted it 
for a religious end. On this subject 
John Howe says, " If the most 
fundamental relation in a family, 
the conjugal relation, was appointed 
by Grod for a religious end, then 
certainly the family must be, in the 
design of its constitution, set up for 
that end. Did he not make one? 
said the Prophet. Yet had he the 
residue of the Spirit. And where- 
fore one ? 4 That he might seek a 
godly seed.' He did not design the 
original constitution of that funda- 
mental relation, only that there 
might be a continued descent of 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 85 

human nature, but that religion 
might be transmitted from age to 
age, and this design he never 
quits." 

Long before the time of Moses 
we read of family sacrifices, and the 
covenant which secures all our 
hopes embraces the family. So 
that the family is not only the fount- 
ain from which society emanates, 
but also a fountain which Grod 
created for the enlargement of his 
church. Here, in the family, mem- 
bers of the church and of the world 
must meet by divine appointment. 
With what sacred ness does this 
thought invest the position of 
parents ! Both worlds meeting, 
both must be kept in view, both by 
the parent and that parent's pastor. 
8 



86 LETTEES TO A 

The parental and pastoral rela- 
tions to the young of the household, 
stand intimately related to each 
other and to their joint charge. 
These relations must not conflict. 
They may be readily made to har- 
monize, and were designed to do 
so, or they may so come into 
collision as to produce the saddest 
results. This much is certain — no 
pastor can expect to retain his flock 
for any length of time, who does not 
retain his hold on the young. 
The shepherd looks to his lambs 
for his future flock, and he who 
neglects these will soon have no 
flock to feed. And so it will be 
with any of Christ's under shep- 
herds. Such attentions must be 
shown to the young as will secure 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 87 

their confidence and engage their 
affections. But I cannot enlarge on 
this point — all I have time and 
space to say is, that preachers must 
know how to call pious parents to 
their help, and how to help them 
in making the family one of the 
divine institutions for the enlarge- 
ment of Zion ; and to this the eye 
of the student must be turned, in 
the Seminary. 

YOTTK FOND FATHER. 



LETTER VII. 

My dear Son : — I attempted to 
prove in my last, that the family 
was divinely instituted for the pro- 
motion of true religion. If this be 
so, every pious father and mother 



88 LETTEKS TO A 

must be a very important co-worker 
with the pastor. The church to 
which he ministers on the Sabbath 
is composed of all the separate 
churches belonging to each house, 
to which these parents minister all 
the week. What is taught by the 
one must be illustrated and con- 
firmed by the other. As the pastor 
prays on the Sabbath, so must the 
parents each morning and evening 
of the entire week. The lessons he 
teaches in the pulpit must be re- 
peated at the fire-side, and as they 
walk or ride by the way. They 
may greatly strengthen or weaken 
that pastor's hands, they may facil- 
itate or retard his efforts for their 
children's good. u One reason I love 
Mr. so much," said a very 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 89 

small girl to her play-mate, " is tliat 
mother and father love him so 
much, and father prays for him 
every morning and night." 

On the other hand the pastor 
may co-operate very efficiently with 
them. He must not look with in- 
difference, much less with any mea- 
sure of contempt, upon the children 
as beneath his notice. He must 
not, by stiffness or asperity of man- 
ner, render himself unattractive or 
repulsive to this precious portion 
of his charge. One of the easiest 
things in the world is, for the pas- 
tor to secure the confidence and 
love of the children of parents 
who act their part well both towards 
the pastor and the children. 

But he must also learn to listen 



90 LETTERS TO A 

with interest to what parents are 
inclined to say to him respecting 
their children. In his social inter- 
course, as well as in his public min- 
istrations, he must instruct and 
admonish, he must soothe and en- 
courage them in regard to their 
duties and trials. He must take a 
deep interest in the cause of educa- 
tion. He must seek by every pru- 
dent means in his power to awaken 
just sentiments on this subject on 
all over whom he has or may ac- 
quire influence. It has ever been 
the glory of Presbyterianism to 
found and to sustain the school, as 
the handmaid to the church. 

The minister may do much to 
elevate the profession of the teacher 
to that degree of respectability and 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 91 

usefulness, which it justly claims. 
To this end, he should converse 
freely on the subject with young 
and old, rich and poor. State facts, 
search out the young, encourage 
them to seek this profession, and 
afford them all possible assistance 
in preparing for it. Never rest 
until public sentiment is so en- 
lightened, so changed on this sub- 
ject, that it shall rank as one of the 
learned professions. 

The schools being established, 
must be visited and addressed by 
the pastor. To do this successfully, 
he must acquaint himself with the 
best school books, the best method 
of instruction, and the best system 
of discipline. Thus furnished, he 
may counsel and greatly assist es- 



92 LETTERS TO A 

pecially the young teacher. Thus, 
too, he may form the acquaintance 
of the young of his charge, secure 
their confidence, and win their love. 
In thus co-operating with parents, 
he will also find it of the utmost 
consequence, to give due attention 
to the Sabbath-school. This school 
is not a substitute, but a help to 
parental instruction. The pastor, 
the ruling elder, the parent, must 
all co-operate with the superintend- 
ent and teacher, that this work may 
be properly performed. And of 
such consequence is the wise and 
efficient agency of the pastor in this 
work, that few men are found fitted 
for it unless they make it a sub- 
ject of study, and unless they be- 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 93 

come skilful Sabbath-school teachers, 
while in the Seminary. 

A chief excellence of this depart- 
ment of effort is, that it affords 
scope to every office bearer in the 
church, and to every private mem- 
ber, to labour for Christ. Where 
its claims are duly considered, the 
whole church must awake. " The 
greatness of Dr. Chalmers," says 
his biographer, " consisted quite as 
much in his skill in leading others 
to labour, as in labouring himself." 
As an illustration of this remark, 
see Life of Chalmers by Dr. Hanna, 
vol. 2nd, pages 130-137. You will 
there find the following statements 
— " Until Dr. Chalmers came to 
Glasgow, parochial Christian influ- 
ence was a mere name. It was not 



94 LETTERS TO A 

systematic, it was not understood. 
There was not the machinery for 
the moral elevation of a town pop- 
ulation. The people were let alone. 
Some of the elders of the Tron 
church were excellent men. But 
their chief duty was to stand at the 
plate, receive the free will offerings 
of the congregation as they entered, 
and distribute them to the poor by 
a monthly allowance. Their spirit- 
ual duties and exertions were but 
small, and almost exclusively con- 
fined to a few of the sick. Dr. Chal- 
mers began by interesting a noble 
band of co-labourers in the Sabbath- 
school cause ; and within the space 
of two years, from only one general 
school of 100 scholars, he succeeded 
in increasing the number of district 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 95 

schools to 40, and that of the pu- 
pils to 1200. On his removal from 
the Tron church, to St. Johns, he 
found there one general school of 
128 children. Here also, adopting 
the district, in place of the general 
school, within six months 26 schools 
were opened, taught by 33 teachers 
and embracing 732 pupils. These 
schools continue to the present day, 
and there have flowned from this 
small, local Sabbath-school society, 
eight other societies in different 
parts of the city and suburbs, all 
fairly traceable to the impetus given 
in the Tron church by Dr. Chal- 
mers in this braiich of parochial 
economy. Had he done nothing 
more than promote the principle of 



96 LETTERS TO A 

this local system of Sabbath -schools, 
he would not have lived in vain." 

As an additional illustration of 
what well directed personal effort 
may accomplish, I refer you to the 
same biography, vol. 4, page 385- 
408. There you will find an account 
of his celebrated " West Port" 
enterprise. Do not fail to read it, 
I cannot forbear sending you the 
following extract from the conclusion 
of one of Dr. Chalmers' Sabbath 
school sermons. He says, " An 
unction of blessedness may emanate 
abroad upon every neighbourhood 
in which these schools are situated 
— that they occupy a high point of 
command over the moral destinies 
of our city, for the susceptibilities 
of childhood and of youth are what 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 97 

they have to deal with. It is a 
tender and flexible plant to which 
they aim at giving a direction. It 
is a conscience at the most impressi- 
ble stage of its history which they 
attempt to touch, and on which 
they labour to engrave the lessons 
of conduct and of principle. And 
I doubt not that, when we are 
mouldering in our coffins, when the 
present race of men have disap- 
peared and made room for another 
succession of the species, when 
parents of every cast and of every 
character have sunk into oblivion 
and sleep together in quietness, 
the teachers of these schools will 
leave behind them a surviving 
memorial of their labour, in a 

large portion of that worth and 
9 



98 LETTEES TO A 

piety which shall adorn the citizens 
of a future generation.'' 

The kind of effort indicated above 
is essential to the well being of the 
church of Grod on earth. The chris- 
tian character can only be developed 
by proper diet and exercise. What 
food is to the body, that Grod's 
truth is to the soul. That truth 
must dwell richly in the heart, but 
it must also shine brightly in the 
life. The professions made, and 
the obligations assumed by all who 
join the church of Christ, bind 
them to a life of active effort for 
the good of others. The children 
of this world are wiser than the 
children of light. That servant of 
Christ, so honoured of men, and so 
blessed of Grod, Dr. B. H. Rice, 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 99 

said to me, as I left his house to 
enter upon ray labours as a Domes- 
tic Missionary, "You must re- 
member that ministerial influence 
does not descend but it ascends. 
By this I mean, you cannot reach 
the poor through the rich, half so 
successfully as you can the rich 
through the jpoor." This wise 
remark admits of a variety of illus- 
trations. The builder on Christ's 
spiritual temple must do as other 
builders do. He must begin low 
i — begin by the preparation of 
materials, piece by piece — small 
andgreat — rough and smooth. Then, 
commencing with the foundation, 
build upward. What the good 
doctor said of the rich and poor, is 
equally true of parents and chil- 



100 LETTERS TO A 

dren. You can reach the former 
through the latter far more readily, 
and influence them far more effect- 
ually, than you can the latter through 
the former. 

Seek not to reap where others 
have sown. The fresher the field 
the better, the more abundant the 
materials, the more readily may 
your footprints be seen. Only love 
the work for the work's sake. Only 
seek to be happy by seeking the 
path of duty; and then the more 
arduous your labours, the more 
exquisite your happiness. 

Let the church at large see that 
you can do something — that you 
can succeed in one kind of labour 
if not in another. If you cannot 
preach great sermons, possibly you 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 101 

can circulate great books. If you 
cannot elicit the admiration of the 
learned, then through God's Spirit, 
save the soul of the ignorant. 

Two men I have known of blessed 
memory — long since taken to hea- 
ven, pastors of obscure congrega- 
tions, but greatly useful, who were 
distinguished chiefly — the one, for 
his success in distributing good 
books, and the other for his zeal 
and success in the cause of Sabbath- 
schools. 

YOUK FOND FATHEK. 
9* 



LETTERS TO 
G. W. W., 



PROBATIONER FOR THE MINISTRY. 

103 



LETTERS TO A PROBATIONER. 



LETTER I. 

My dear Sox, — You have left 

the Seminary, and by Presbyterial 

authority, are now before the church 

as a probationer for the full work 

of the ministry. The transition 

through which you have passed, 

like every other movement in life, 

is attended with more or less pain, 

and fraught with more or less 

danger. It is indeed painful to 

pass from the intercourse enjoyed 

in the Seminary, to that which is 

105 



106 LETTERS TO A 

encountered in the world. The 
unanimity of sentiment and cordiali- 
ty of feeling, the sympathy and the 
assistance enjoyed in the former, 
are almost wholly unknown in the 
latter. 

The danger is often greater than 
the pain. When one passes from 
the comparative obscurity and re- 
tirement of Seminary life, to so 
conspicuous a position as that held 
by the preacher ; when he first 
finds himself no longer among his 
peers, nor under the oversight of 
his superiors — now looked upon as 
a guide to others — listened to, 
consulted, honoured by those who 
are older, and who, on many 
subjects, are far wiser than himself, 
there is extreme danger of the 



PKOBATIOKEK. 107 

rising of a proud and vain-glorious 
spirit. Or, when the feeling of 
loneliness, incident to the change 
he has made, is experienced, and. 
when the indifference of a cold and 
lifeless church combines, as it often 
does, with the opposition of an 
ungodly world to throw obstructions 
in his way, he is equally exposed to 
the rising of a timid and despondent 
spirit. 

With the affection and fidelity 
of a father, who rejoices before Grod 
that He has made you a preacher 
of the precious Grospel, I adopt this 
method of saying a few things, in 
a very plain way, to guard you 
against self-conceit on the one hand, 
and despondency on the other. 

Then, first of all, let me urge 



108 LETTEKS TO A 

you often to " examine yourself 
whether you be in the faith." 
Store your memory, more and more, 
with what the Scriptures teach of 
man's original and total depravity, 
and of God's method graciously 
devised, and mercifully executed, 
for his redemption. Let not anxious 
concern for yourself as a sinner 
saved by grace, be forgotten or 
neglected in your anxiety for the 
spiritual good of others. In addi- 
tion to the word of God, read the 
best works on practical divinity. 
Make Baxter, and Bunyan, and 
Flavel, and Doddridge your constant 
companions. Dr. John H. Rice 
once told me that he had read Dod- 
dridge's Rise and Progress, from 
beginning to end, more than twenty 



PROBATIONER. 109 

times. With such books connect 
the singing of God's praise as in 
the well known language of our 
87th Hymn, 

"Grace first contrived the way 
To save rebellious man." 

If you are called to preach the 
gospel, it is not only true, that 

" Grace first inscribed your name 
In God's eternal book." 

but it is equally of grace that you 
now preach to others. " By the 
grace of Grocl, I am what I am." 
Such a consideration is well fitted 
to encourage while it humbles us. 

You should often review the 
grounds on which you resolved to 
consecrate yourself to the ministry. 

Be not afraid to discover, confess, 

and renounce all impurity of motive 
10 



110 LETTERS TO A 

found mingling in the purpose 
you have formed. There can neither 
be success nor comfort without 
purity of motive, and singleness 
of aim. The love of Christ must 
constrain. The desire to glorify 
Grocl and do good must control 
in the efforts made, in the field of 
labour chosen, the sermons preached, 
and the visits paid. Just so far as 
self-seeking, the desire for popular 
applause, or any other earthly 
consideration, is permitted to deter- 
mine your movements, just so far 
may you expect to fail in all the 
great ends of the ministry. 

Sad mistakes are often committed 
at the beginning of one's course, in 
the selection of a field of labour. 
Young ministers often err in giving 



PROBATIONER 111 

the preference to an organized 
church, however old, crazy, and 
barren, to a fresh and untilled 
missionary field. They pay, by far, 
too little respect to the wishes of 
their Presbytery, and even to their 
authority, however justly and ex- 
plicitly asserted. They hunt for 
places, instead of assuming that 
easily attainable position in which 
places will hunt for them. The 
word " call" has magic power in 
their ears — and by this they do not 
mean a call from God to work 
where work is most demanded — 
and where it is most likely that 
encroachments may be made on the 
dominions of the prince of darkness, 
but an invitation to take the pastoral 
oversight of some church where the 



112 LETTEES TO A 

emolument and the honour will be 
the greatest. They too often forget 
that the man makes the place, and 
not the place, the man. 

There is a kind of clerical co- 
quetry practised chiefly, but not ex- 
clusively, by young preachers, which 
every right minded man abhors, 
and which God, sooner or later, al- 
ways punishes. Vacant churches 
are visited, and inducements held 
out to make the visitor a call, when 
little or no expectation is enter- 
tained of accepting it if made. Some- 
times a ruling elder in some vacant 
church writes a letter to one who 
is already a pastor or stated supply, 
expressing merely his own desire 
and that of a few others, that the 
minister would abandon the field he 



PROBATIONER. 113 

has in charge, and come to them. 
This letter is shown, and talked of ; 
until by insensible degrees it be- 
comes dignified with the title of a 
call, and in all probability finds its 
way into the newspapers. 

Now, look above the churches. 
Look to Grod ; ask with an humble, 
honest, earnest heart, " Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do?" — and the 
place will be indicated in a way 
perhaps you cannot explain ; and 
when thus indicated, enter into it 
with a cheerful and resolved spirit, 
labouring as if you fully expected 
there to live and there to die. 

The young preacher often takes a 

position from which he expects soon to 

emigrate. This expectation withers 

his hopes, and paralyzes his exer- 
10* 



114 LETTEES TO A 

tions. He accordingly expends more 
time in lamenting the barrenness of 
his field, and in devising ways and 
means to find another, thai! would 
he needful to render him both use- 
ful and happy where he now is. I 
fear it will be found in the last day, 
that Jonah has had as long a line 
of successors as Paul. He who, 
being called to JNmeveh, goes to 
Tarshish, does it at his peril. He 
may well expect the Lord to send 
out a great wind upon the sea, so 
that there shall be a great tempest, 
which shall threaten his ship with 
destruction. 

I am far from thinking that our 
vacant churches are to be neglected, 
and that every licentiate must be a 
missionary. I only indicate my 



PKOBATIONER. 115 

view of what should be the general 
rule, and what, other things being 
equal, the young man should pre- 
fer. Let the call of Grod made 
known by the leadings of Provi- 
dence, and studied with humble 
prayer, determine. JSTor do I think 
that the minister should never 
move. I believe it often happens 
that a man remains far too long in 
the same place. It is just as wrong 
to remain when Grod calls you away, 
as it is to go when he bids you re- 
main. What I insist on, is that he 
shall not be a man, "given to 
change" — that he shall not be like 
one in a fever who seeks relief 
from pain by a change of position — 
but that he shall pray and labour 
wherever he is, as though he neither 



116 LETTEES TO A 

sought nor expected any easier or 
more honourable position. 

YOTJK FOND FATHER. 



LETTER II, 



My dear Son, — My last letter 
may lead you to ask, what are the 
considerations which should induce 
a preacher to abandon one field 
for another. It is no easy matter 
to answer this question. If I should 
say a man should remove whenever 
his usefulness ceases, I might be 
told that it is difficult, and some- 
times impossible to determine with 
accuracy, when that result has 
occurred. " The kingdom of God 
cometh not with observation," and 



PROBATIONER. 117 

it often happens that far more is 
really accomplished than meets the 
eye. For wise and good reasons 
God may not permit his servants 
to see the results of their efforts. 
It is sometimes the purpose of 
infinite wisdom that one should 
sow arid another reap. But still 
this question may ordinarily be 
determined with no little accuracy, 
and the following considerations 
may help in doing so. 

The church is the body of which 
Christ is the head. This body has 
many members. Among all these, 
from the minister to the humblest 
members, there exist relations from 
which obligations arise, both re- 
lative and mutual. The result 
aimed at is to be attained by the 



118 LETTEKS TO A 

joint efforts of all. Our stations in 
the church are different, but our 
work is substantially the same. 
" JSTow he that planteth and he that 
watereth are one, and every man 
shall receive the reward of his own 
labour. For we are workers to- 
gether with Grod." And, " neither 
is he that planteth any thing nor 
he that watereth, but God that 
giveth the increase." The Apostle 
Paul speaks of the private members 
of the church as his " fellow labour- 
ers," and even sends greeting to 
" certain women who laboured with 
him in the gospel." 

All cannot, nor should they if 
they could, be preachers. Nor can 
all hold even a subordinate office 
in the church. JSTor can all be rich, 



PKOBATIONEE. 119 

or learned, or very influential. But 
all can labour for Christ. All may- 
be his followers, his servants. All 
may be like the poor woman who 
" did what she could" in anointing 
Christ for his burial. And she did 
far more than he who censured her 
as wasteful. The two humble 
Marys who were " last at the cross, 
and first at the sepulchre," did 
more to honour Christ at this 
particular juncture, than the eleven 
apostles " who forsook him and 
fled." It has been pertinently asked, 
" Who makes the garment? The 
spinner, the weaver, or the tailor ?" 
A far more important question than 
this is, Who, under God. converted 
Timothy ? Was it his grandmother 
or his mother, from whom, we are 



120 LETTERS TO A 

told, lie learned the Scriptures in 
his childhood? Or was it the 
apostle Paul upon whose ministry 
he attended when he became a 
man ? 

"With these obvious considerations 
in view, it is safe to say, than when 
a minister of the gospel has done 
what he could to secure that sort 
and measure of co-operation on the 
part of ruling elders, deacons, and 
members, which the Scriptures 
obviously demand, and fails to do 
so, he is at liberty to accept a call 
to some other field, provided that 
call has not been improperly sought 
nor given. Time and space utterly 
forbid any minuteness of specifica- 
tion here as to the nature and 
amount of work to be performed 



PROBATIONER. 121 

by tlie several detachments in " the 
sacramental host of Grod's elect." 
As to this, all needful knowledge 
may be readily derived from the 
word of Grod. " Let him that is 
taught in the word communicate 
unto him that teach eth in all good 
things." This evidently means, let 
each in his place do all that he can 
to strengthen the hands and to cheer 
the heart of him who " labours in 
the word and doctrine." And if 
this be not done, the work will 
cease. 

The loss of a finger, and even of 
a finger nail, may very seriously 
detract from the strength and 
efficiency of the human body. So 
the Church, the body of Christ, 
may be sadly hindered in its great 



122 LETTEKS TO A 

work of converting the world to 
Christ, by the failure of the 
humblest and weakest member to 
keep his place, and to do his or 
her appropriate part of the work. 
The man who merely oils the 
machinery of a locomotive is as 
needful to the rapid and safe 
progress of the cars, as is the 
conductor or the engineer. 

Pastoral duty presupposes pas- 
toral support. This is a subject 
very imperfectly understood, mainly 
because it is not duly considered 
either by the pastor or the people. 
It is revealed and enforced in the 
Scriptures with great distinctness. 
Here we have line upon line, and 
precept upon precept. It is very 
explicitly taught in Gralatians vi. 6, 



PKOBATIONER. 123 

and in 1 Cor. ix. 11-13, and Phil, 
iv. 15. But the people are too 
avaricious, and the minister too 
modest or too timid to read or to 
say much on the subject. It is con- 
fessed that the minister undertakes 
the discussion of it under many dis- 
advantages. He is an interested 
party. Strong prejudice must be 
encountered. Much ignorance and 
many mistakes must be removed 
and corrected. Many regard the 
life of a minister as one of idleness. 
They know of no other labour, but 
that of the hands or feet. They are 
not aware that the hardest, the 
most exhausting toil known to man 
is that of the mind. The body is 
ordinarily invigorated by manual, 
but often enfeebled and destroyed 



124 LETTEES TO A 

by mental labour. And then mul- 
titudes regard the salary paid, not 
as compensation for an equivalent 
received, but as mere charity — a 
crust thrown to the hungry to ward 
off starvation. Hence, one who is 
raised above actual want must 
preach for nothing, and live upon 
his private resources. One of the 
strongest and most intelligent con- 
gregations in the Synod of Virginia 
lost a pastor who was so poor as to 
be wholly dependent on his salary 
for the maintenance of his family, 
and whom they had supported with 
ease to themselves and comfort to 
him. They secured a successor 
w^hose pecuniary circumstances were 
comfortable. This people loved 
their second pastor quite as well as 



PROBATIONER. 125 

they did the first. They conceded 
that in all respects he was his equal, 
and in some, his superior ; and yet 
they curtailed the salary greatly, 
and pleaded as an excuse for doing 
so, that he was almost as well to do 
in the world, as some of the richest 
of them were." On inquiry, I 
learned, that his people made no 
such plea, in reference to their 
physician, or lawyer, or mechanic. 
No one expected the services of any 
of these to be rendered free of 
charge, on the condition that they 
possessed an ample patrimony. 
This sort of service they only look 
for from those who minister, not to 
the body, but the soul. 

Now the pastor must give the 
people no occasion to suppose that 
11 * 



126 LETTEES TO A 

he is mean spirited or parsimonious ; 
that he seeks the fleece and not the 
flock. He must be known and 
read of all men as one of liberal 
views and generous spirit. He 
must so preach, pray, and visit as to 
make himself necessary to the peo- 
ple. He is to be fully and comfort- 
ably supported or not, just in so far 
as he gives himself wholly or in 
part to the work of the ministry. 
If only one half of his time and at- 
tention is given to this work, then 
he can only claim one half of his 
support. If only a third, then only 
a third of a support. And if his 
service consists only of one un- 
studied sermon a week, then he 
can justly claim no support. This 
rule is simple and just. 



PROBATIONER 127 

But with this rule in view, let the 
people be plainly told that Grod has 
unalterably decreed, that " they who 
preach the gospel should live of the 
gospel ;" that the pastor comes to 
them as Christ's ambassador, and 
that He in whose name he comes, 
claims as his right the adequate 
support of him he sends. This is 
as really Christ's portion of their 
money, as the Sabbath is his por- 
tion of their time ; and he who with- 
holds the one is no less guilty than 
he who withholds the other. 

The pastor who fails thus to teach 
fails to " declare the whole counsel 
of Grod." He keeps back that 
" w T hich is profitable unto them." 
Let such a preacher duly consider 
that fearful passage in the close of 



128 LETTERS TO A 

the Bible : " If any man shall take 
away from the words of the book 
of this prophecy, Grod shall take 
away his part out of the book of 
life, and out of the holy city, and 
from the things which are written in 
this book." 

And let the people who withhold 
from the faithful pastor what Grod 
demands for his support — let them 
know that the Saviour has said, 
" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my breth- 
ren, ye have done it unto me." 
And if it be a sin to rob man, it is 
far more sinful to rob Grod. He 
robs his fellow who wilfully with- 
holds from him his due; and he 
robs his Maker who refuses cheer- 
fully to render what he claims. 



PROBATIONER. 129 

This subject will be resumed in 
my next. 

Your fokd father. 



LETTER III. 



My dear Son, — A minister of the 
gospel should not abandon a church 
for the want of an adequate support, 
until he has faithfully instructed 
them, as I intimated in my last, as 
to what Grod plainly requires of 
them in his word. And then he 
must tell them plainly that an 
adequate support is such provision 
as enables him to labour without the 
embarrassment occasioned by efforts 
to support himself ; and such as 
will raise him above meanness in 



130 LETTERS TO A 

his style of living, and sucli as 
preserves him from becoming an 
object of pity. The moment a 
people begin to say of their minister, 

"Poor Mr. what a hard time 

he has ! How sorry it makes me 
to think of his scanty table, and 
threadbare clothing !" — that mo- 
ment his usefulness is diminished 
or ceases altogether. 

To avoid such a result, the people 
should be urged to consider the 
time, the toil, the expense bestowed 
by the well qualified minister, to fit 
himself for his work. They right- 
fully demand the highest quali- 
fications in him who ministers to 
them in holy things. ISTo people 
of ordinary intelligence would be 
content with a pastor who had not 



PKOBATIONEH. 131 

secured the education demanded 
by the Presbytery. JSTow in order 
to do this, he must renounce the 
secular calling in which he is 
engaged when he determines to 
prepare for the ministry. He must 
also resolve to look to no such 
calling in the future. He must at 
once enter upon an expenditure of 
at least $300 per annum, for an 
average period of seven years. 
Indeed it is safe to estimate the 
gross amount expended by every 
young man in becoming a Presbyte- 
rian minister at something like 
$2500. This is his outlay. Hence 
a very large proportion of our pro- 
bationers leave the Seminarv not 
only penniless but in debt. I knew 
a young man to commence preach- 



132 LETTERS TO A 

ing just in this condition, who, had 
he not consecrated himself to the 
ministry, but held to the profession 
from which he went to the Seminary, 
would almost certainly have been a 
man of great wealth by the time he 
was ready to go forth as a penni- 
less probationer. 

The people should also be faith- 
fully instructed as to the nature 
and extent of the service demanded 
of the preacher. He must preach, 
prepared or unprepared — whether 
the season be hot or cold, wet or 
dry, and often, whether he be sick 
or well. This he must do, at least 
200 times in the year, and often 
more frequently than this. He 
must visit the whole congregation 
occasionally, and the sick, the 



PROBATIONER. 133 

afflicted, and the anxious frequently. 
He must know of the sickness or 
affliction as best he can, although he 
is under no more obligation to go 
without being sent for, than is the 
physician. He must maintain an 
extensive correspondence ; aid in 
supplying teachers with schools, 
and schools with teachers, churches 
with pastors, and pastors with 
churches. He must be visited, and 
it is his joy to be so, by every 
body, and at all times when occasion 
calls for it. Suppose the pecuniary 
value of these services were estima- 
ted according to the rates charged 
by doctors, lawyers, and others ; 
the result would be astonishing. I 
know a very wealthy man with a 

large family who pays $15 pew rent. 
12 



134 LETTERS TO A 

One year that family had the 
opportunity of hearing 150 sermons 
and lectures, and as they were 
much afflicted with sickness, re- 
ceived during the year over forty 
visits. Just think of the large 
amount of service with the pittance 
of compensation. Could they have 
heard as many lectures on any 
other subject, and received as many 
visits for medical or legal service 
for five times the sum ? To pay a 
servant to prepare their food, or 
wait at their table, would have cost 
them a far larger sum. 

People are willing to pay for 
other things according to their 
intrinsic value. This is right. But 
it surely is not right to make the 
precious gospel an exception to 



PROBATIONER. 135 

this just rule. One is sometimes 
strongly tempted to think, that 
all other claims are more promptly 
met than those of the gospel, 
because others can bring suit and 
this cannot. " Did your people pay 
your late excellent pastor all they 
owed him before his removal?" I 
once asked of a ruling elder — " Oh 
no !' was the reply, " we still owe 
him $500." I said to him, " You 
intend to pay him that balance 
before you seek a successor, do you 
not ?" ' Well,' " replied the rich old 
elder, " I s'pose we ought. But as 
times are very hard, and as Mr. 

is a mighty good man, he won't 

press us much for it. I'm sure he 
will be satisfied if we pay him what 
we can — and you know we can't do 



136 LETTEES TO A 

without preaching. So, I would be 
mightly obliged to you, if you would 
try and get us a preacher." " Not 
I," was my answer, " if I knew of 
a dozen, I would not recommend 
one of them to you, until you had 
paid, to the uttermost farthing, 
what is now justly clue to your 
former pastor, who, I know, is at 
this moment, suffering for what 
you owe him." 

This is a very literal account of 
that interview. Oh, there is a hea- 
ven-provoking meanness on this 
subject, which must grieve the 
Holy Spirit, and which must be 
prominent among the causes of the 
present low and languishing state 
of Zion. 

The minister himself is some- 



PEOBATIOXER. 137 

times to blame. He is so when he 

fails to declare the whole counsel 

of Grod on this subject ; and when he 

panders to the avarice of the people 

by being afraid to say anything 

about money in the pulpit. Some 

preachers are almost as much afraid 

of being called money-preachers, 

as they would be of being called 

Beelzebub. Say what the Bible 

says about it, and let the people 

call you what they will. Again — 

they are to be blamed for yielding 

the moment the pinch is felt, and 

betaking themselves to some secular 

calling too soon. The moment they 

do this, the avaricious church cries, 

" So would we have it." And the 

more the man does for himself, the 

less he does for them, and the Jess 
12 * 



138 LETTEKS TO A 

they do for him. They rob him of 
his living, and he robs them of 
their food ; and they will starve 
together. They starve his body, and 
he starves their souls. 

There is a passage in the book 
of Proverbs not sufficiently consi- 
dered. It may be found in the 
22nd chapter and 16th verse, and is 
as follows : " He that oppresseth the 
poor to increase his riches, and he 
that giveth to the rich, shall surely 
come to want." Ministers often 
sin against the latter clause of this 
verse. They " give to the rich," 
and this is here placed in the same 
category with " oppressing the poor 
to increase one's riches." It some- 
times happens that the pastor of a 
large and wealthy church, pays 



PKOBATIOXER. 139 

treble as much pew rent as the 
richest member. I have known 
one whose pew rent cost him at 
least |200.00 per annum. By this 
I mean, that although he gave 
himself wholly and efficiently to the 
ministry, and although he lived as 
economically as common decency 
permitted, yet he was compelled to 
draw on his private resources to the 
amount stated, in order to supply 
the wants of his family. 

A large and rich church once ap- 
plied to the Presbytery to permit 
them to reduce the pastor's salary 
from $700 to 550. The pastor was 
poor, and had an expensive family. 
He was a man justly and highly 
esteemed for his talents, his piety, 
and fidelity. He was greatly be- 



140 LETTEES TO A 

loved by his people, yet they had 
succeeded in securing his approval 
of this novel proposition. It was 
conceded on all hands, that neither 
sum would be adequate to his sup- 
port — and that there were 150 
members able to assist in sustain- 
ing him — some of whom were very 
wealthy. Now this memorial may 
be paraphrased thus — " We respect- 
fully ask of this reverend body, 
that they w r ill require of our beloved 
pastor, to contribute of his own 
substance $150 per annum, for the 
support of the gospel in our congre- 
gation ; for if this is not done, then 
must one hundred and fifty of our 
number be compelled to add one 
dollar each to what is now sub- 
scribed in order to keep the salary 



PKOBATIONEE. 141 

at its present rate." And the most 
surprising part of the whole busi- 
ness was, that the petition was 
granted, and the good pastor taxed, 
and the good people relieved ac- 
cordingly. Now, never let a con- 
gregation treat you thus. It is 
giving to the rich. It is pandering 
to avarice. Deny yourself to the 
very uttermost. Live, as I know 
many of our dear brethren do, on 
the plainest food, and in the mean- 
est houses, for the sake of a poor, a 
generous, a working, and a praying- 
people. But never, no never, dis- 
grace the ministry by permitting 
the rich and the avaricious to enjoy 
the blessings of the gospel ministry, 
w r hen they will not give to that 
ministry an adequate support. 



142 LETTERS TO A 

When the people have obviously 
given to the extent of their ability, 
and when they practise as much 
self-denial as you do — when they 
pray and labour as diligently in 
their sphere, as you do in yours, 
and yet cannot give you an adequate 
support ; then, rather than leave 
them, resort to some other — always 
a kindred calling — to enable you to 
remain among them. A Christian 
school, so conducted as to become 
" an every day congregation," is not 
only allowable, but may be rendered 
eminently auxiliary to your great 
work as pastor. But, never forget, 
that in every thing, you are to be 
the pattern and the guide of those 
to whom you minister. 

Your foxd father. 



PKOBATIONEK. 143 

LETTER IV. 

My deak Sox: — The extent to 
which the pen and the press may be 
made to combine with the pulpit, in 
spreading the gospel through the 
earth, deserves early and earnest 
consideration. It is not my pur- 
pose to discuss at any length the 
propriety of using manuscript in 
the pulpit. Almost every thing 
depends upon the manner in which 
this is done. If the preacher read 
so closely that his eye cannot pass 
freely and almost constantly over 
the audience, and if his manner be 
that of the reader, and not of the 
speaker, he is not likely to be suc- 
cessful in so preaching that many 
shall believe. He may acquire the 



144 LETTEKS TO A 

reputation of a good writer and 
good reader, but a successful preacher 
he cannot be. Extremes here, as 
every where, should be avoided. I 
think it was Dr. Chalmers who said, 
u I write that I may learn to extem- 
porize, and I extemporize, that I 
may learn to write." The most 
censurable method of all, is speak- 
ing memoriter, and ordinarily the 
best, is writing and taking into the 
pulpit from one fourth to one third 
of what one expects to utter, having 
thoroughly digested the whole sub- 
ject. This method enables one to 
be free, and yet guards against in- 
coherence and rashness. Preaching 
is making known the truth of God 
viva voce. The pen and the press 
are only other means of accomplish- 



PROBATIONER. 145 

ing the same end. God acknow- 
ledges and blesses his own truth, 
whether preached or printed. The 
former, it is conceded, is most im- 
portant, u for after that, in the wis- 
dom of God, the world by wisdom 
knew not God, it pleased God by 
the foolishness of preaching to save 
them that believe." Both methods, 
however, have the divine sanction, 
and neither can be neglected with- 
out guilt. But they should be 
kept in their respective positions. 
Neither should be permitted to en- 
croach upon or supplant the other. 

A sermon fully written and 
closely read, can hardly be called 
preaching. 

This reminds me of what I re- 
gard as a serious evil. I refer to 
13 



146 LETTERS TO A 

the extent to which sermons are 
printed, and written to be printed. 
This practice leads to a false stand- 
ard as to the method, style, and 
matter. A sermon fitted to be read 
differs materially from one fitted to 
be heard. The circumstances and 
condition of the hearer are widely 
different from those of the reader. 
What helps the one, hinders the 
other. And hence we may con- 
clude, that they must be reached 
and influenced by a different pro- 
cess. The eye, the voice, the atti- 
tude, all combine with the truth 
uttered, and not only add to its 
clearness but also increase its power. 
It is silly to say that it matters but 
little how the truth is communi- 
cated, provided it be the truth. 



PROBATIONER. 147 

You might as well say, it matters 
but little whether a given piece of 
music is played upon a jews-harp, 
or a violin. 

But what I wished to say is, that 
writing sermons to be printed has 
tended to weaken the power of the 
pulpit, on account of the inherent 
difference between the truth read 
and the truth heard. Are sermons 
as effective as they once were? 
They may be more eloquent, or at 
least, more rhetorical. They may 
even be more instructive, but are 
they not by far less impressive? 
Do they wake the conscience and 
stir the emotions as they once did ? 
I think not, and at least one 
of the causes of this difference is 
found in the fact, that sermons now 



148 LETTEES TO A 

are prepared with so much regard 
to the press. Being thus prepared, 
they are less simple, less colloquial 
and direct. A sermon intended, 
either now or hereafter, for the 
press will be prepared with less 
reference to the time of its delivery, 
and the people to whom it is ad- 
dressed, than to a future time, and 
a distant people. In this the 
preacher resembles the Congress- 
man, who speaks with less refer- 
ence to the immediate impression to 
be made, than to the influence he 
hopes to exert on his distant con- 
stituents. 

Still, the minister must write, and 
write for the press. How could the 
church and the world dispense with 
the writings of the great and good 



PEOBATIONEK. 149 

of bye-gone generations ? What a 
flood of light still falls upon our 
earth from those who, through the 
press, " though dead yet speak !" 
But let him write and publish let- 
ters, essays, books, rather than ser- 
mons. 

I turn for a moment to a different 
subject, but one which nearly con- 
cerns your success and comfort. I 
refer to the spirit cherished, and the 
conduct pursued towards your breth- 
ren in the ministry. It is to be 
feared that the tie which binds the 
heralds of the cross together is 
neither so tender nor so bright as it 
once was. Preachers of the same gos- 
pel are more than brethren. They are 
fellow-labourers in the most sacred 

cause. Chords of sympathy pass 
13* 



150 LETTEKS TO A 

from heart to heart, which should 
not easily be broken. It is said 
that no friendships among men are 
purer and stronger, than those 
which exist among companions in 
exile. Brethren in the ministry are 
companions in exile, in the best 
sense. What are they but fellow- 
pilgrims toiling together along the 
same weary way — opposed by the 
same enemies, seeking the same 
blessed end, under the guidance of 
the same great Prince of Peace? 
One chart guides the footsteps, one 
kind voice cheers the hearts, and 
one banner waves perpetually in the 
view of all. 

Then sympathize they ought, and 
sympathize they will, if they are an- 
imated by the spirit of their Master. 



PROBATIONER. 151 

If it be obligatory on private Chris- 
tians to bear each other's burdens, 
and so fulfil the law of Christ, much 
more is it obligatory on the heralds 
of the cross. The strongest, purest 
motives urge to this. They are 
identified with the cause of Christ. 
It is impossible to detract from the 
character, or in any way, to lessen 
the influence of the servant, with- 
out hindering that servant's work. 
" He that receiveth you, receiveth 
me." " Inasmuch as ye have done 
it unto one of the least of these my 
brethren, ye have done it unto 
me." 

We sometimes speak complain- 
ingly of the disesteem in which min- 
isters are held by the people — of 
their fastidiousness in censuring, 



152 LETTERS TO A 

their avarice in withholding from 
them an adequate support. In 
these things the people are often at 
fault. But may not this result, in 
part, from the low esteem in which 
ministers hold each other? Are 
they not often too ready to speak 
disparagingly of one another? Little 
defects of manner and inferiority of 
talents, are noted and spoken of 
even in the presence of a carping 
world. A minister of fair standing 
with his Presbytery cannot be asked 
to preach, because some would not 
like to hear him. The sacredness 
of the ministerial profession calls 
for the greatest purity of character, 
and where this is wanting, no pains 
should be spared to reform or 
remove from office the offender. 



PROBATIONER. 153 

They should be clean who bear the 
vessels of the sanctuary ; and 
sympathy for the man should 
never be permitted to supplant 
fidelity to the office. 

Ministerial meetings of contiguous 
pastors, held for mutual conference 
and prayer, are productive of great 
good. They burnish and strengthen 
the chain of sympathy and affection, 
as no meetings of Presbytery or 
Synod can do. Such meetings were 
more common in days gone-by, 
than thev now are ; and to their 
disuse may be ascribed, in part, 
the present low state of piety in our 
churches. 

Nearly allied to this, is the impor- 
tance of adopting wise measures 
for the promotion of a fraternal 



154 LETTERS TO A 

spirit among the people. What 
gravity is in nature, that love is in 
the church of Christ. It keeps 
each individual in his appropriate 
orbit, and secures regularity and 
efficiency in the movements of the 
whole system. But this lovely 
spirit has been tarnished — weakened 
by the fall, so that it exists even 
among good people to a very limited 
extent. Here, as in the solar 
system, are two forces operating in 
opposite directions, one drawing 
the members of Christ's body to- 
gether, by drawing them towards 
the Sun of righteousness, the other 
driving them apart by driving them 
from that Sun. 

Here the pastor needs wisdom 
from above. He must seldom, if 



PROBATIONER. 155 

ever, listen to the language of 
detraction. In no case must he 
become a partizan in feuds among 
his people. He may sometimes act 
as the confidential adviser of both 
parties with the consent of both. 
But let him never listen, no, not 
for one moment, to ill-natured or 
uncharitable gossip. Let him send 
the offended to the offending brother, 
that according to the rule of Christ, 
he may tell him his fault alone. 

In regard to offences which 
require the notice of the pastor or 
session, our form of government 
warns us against a resort to citation 
and trial, until all other means of 
removing the offence have failed. 
This warning is of immense value. 
By watchfulness in the pastor, by 



156 LETTEKS TO A 

a prompt resort to a private, unoffi- 
cial, kind interview with the offen- 
ding party, in nine cases out of ten, 
any further step may be rendered 
needless. Thepractice which obtains 
in many churches, of appointing 
one or more members of session as 
a committee to wait upon the erring 
member and report the result, is 
often mischievous. Such a step 
becomes, of course, a matter of 
sessional record, and this, of itself, 
is often sufficient to aggravate the 
disease it was designed to cure. 

Two members of one of our 
churches, both men of great in- 
fluence, became personally hostile 
to each other, and spoke and acted 
in a very unchristian manner. The 
offence was serious, and threatened 



PROBATIONER. 157 

to create a storm which, might 
shake the church to its foundations. 
The pastor thought and prayed, but 
said nothing to the session — nothing 
to any one. At length he addressed 
to each of the individuals a note, 
of which the following is an exact 
copy: 

" Dear Sir,— The relations exist- 
ing between us, impel me to ask, 
in all kindness, for an interview 
either in your office or my study, 
as you may prefer. This communica- 
tion is not official, but fraternal 
and confidential. My sole object is 
to prevent evil and do good. In 
other words, to see if certain matters 
affecting your personal character 
and comfort, and the welfare of the 

church of which you are a member, 
14 



158 LETTEES TO A 

and I, the pastor, may not be 
adjusted privately, amicably, and 
usefully to all concerned. Should 
you prefer to bring a friend with 
you, do so. Make your own selec- 
tion." 

The meeting was held in the 
pastor's study, and the result was 
most happy. The sound of distant 
thunder was hushed. The gather- 
ing cloud was scattered, and an 
immense amount of evil prevented. 
" An ounce of prevention is better 
than a pound of cure." 

Your fond father. 



LETTER V. 
My dear Sotf : — I had not time 



PKOBATIONER. 159 

nor space to finish in my last, all I 
desired to say on the subject of the 
proper administration of discipline. 
This is essential to the purity and 
growth of the church. But in this, 
as well as in every thing else, con- 
nected with the kingdom of Christ 
on earth, the w r isdom of the serpent 
must be blended with the harmless- 
n ess of the dove. Both in the ses- 
sion and the Presbytery, the effort 
should be to prevent rather than to 
remedy the evils which discipline 
is designed to remove. A low tone 
of piety, the result of defective 
preaching on the part of the pastor, 
and of instability and worldliness 
on that of the members, will create 
an atmosphere under the influence 
of which, cases of disorder calling 



160 LETTEES TO A 

loudly for discipline will spring up 
and grow as noxious weeds in a rich 
but neglected soil. And under such 
an atmosphere, the wise and effec- 
tive administration of discipline 
becomes almost impracticable. It 
is from churches of the kind just 
described, that complaints and ap- 
peals come to our Presbyteries and 
Synods. It is from such that calls 
come to the higher courts for the 
healing of some old chronic malady, 
that by proper measures on the part 
of the pastor or session, might have 
been nipped in the bud. The knife, 
coldly applied to a cold church, is 
not likely to increase, but rather di- 
minish its spiritual heat. You can- 
not restore a dead body to life by 
amputating its limbs. You must 



PKOBATIONEK. 161 

reach its heart, the seat of life. If 
no heat can be created there, the 
case is hopeless. You had better 
bury than dissect such a body. 

The session that is duly consider- 
ate of its diversified and solemn 
obligations, will find a pressing de- 
mand for a stated meeting at least 
once a month, besides other occa- 
sional meetings. At these stated 
meetings, full inquiry will, of course, 
be made by the pastor, of every 
ruling elder, as to the state of things 
in the different districts into which 
every congregation should be di- 
vided. Cases of sickness, of afflic- 
tion, of backsliding, of neglected 
duty, of religious anxiety, will be 
reported as demanding considera- 
tion. To give due consideration to 
14* 



162 LETTEKS TO A 

interests so various and important 
will demand much time, much con- 
ference, and much prayer. At such 
times much may be done — more 
than any one would suppose who 
has not adopted this plan — to fan 
the flame of a rising piety and to 
check in its commencement the 
springing of disorder. In this way 
the influence of the session for good 
is constantly felt. Instead of wait- 
ing until some irregularity has be- 
come so public, and so serious, as to 
call for citation, the tabling of 
charges, and the summoning of wit- 
nesses, the erring member is first 
seen privately — then, if the evil be 
not remedied, he is requested to 
meet the session for mutual confer- 
ence and prayer. When these pre- 



PROBATIONER. 163 

liminary steps are taken, it will 
often be found needless to proceed 
any further. 

Ruling elders are the pastor's 
privy counsellors. And when they 
are well fitted for their sacred and 
responsible office — when they meet 
their responsibilities with tolerable 
fidelity, their worth to the pastor 
cannot be told. But after all, they 
are not ministers. The promise, 
" Lo, I am with you always," was 
not made to them. It is a precious 
truth, that " the secret of the Lord 
is with them that fear him ;" and a 
truth embodying a promise which 
all who believe in Christ have an 
equal right to plead. But it seems 
obvious that there is a sense in 
which Grod "guides in judgment," 



164 LETTERS TO A 

those whom he calls into the minis- 
try, as he does not guide others ; so 
that few things are more important 
or more difficult than for a minister 
to determine, when to ask advice of 
his privy council, and when not. I 
mean, of course, in reference to mat- 
ters not distinctly assigned to the 
session as an ecclesiastical court. 
In reference to every thing belong- 
ing to the session as a body, he has 
not even a vote except in case of a 
tie. Then, as moderator, he is en- 
titled to give the casting vote. On 
this point I merely wish to guard 
you against too great freedom in 
looking to others. As to the indis- 
criminate manner in which some 
young ministers ask advice of ruling 
elders, private members — including 



PROBATIONER. 165 

the ladies, both young and old, 
married and single — it is quite suffi- 
cient to remark, that such men, if 
they have influence, soon lose it, 
and if they have not, they never get 
it. What intelligent people can re- 
spect a man who has undertaken to 
lead the flock, and who perpetually 
waits for the flock to lead him ? He 
should return to the Seminary. 

But there is an opposite extreme, 
less amiable than this, and frequent- 
ly far more mischievous. It is that 
of him, who, from self-conceit or 
obstinacy, refuses to ask advice 
at the right time and in the right 
way, and who from the same bad 
spirit refuses to abide by it when 
respectfully and reasonably given. 



166 LETTERS TO A 

The one errs through imbecility, 
and the other through mulishness. 
The most sincere and conscien- 
tious young minister will be anxious 
to know how his people estimate 
him. This anxiety may result from 
a good motive, but it may result 
from a very bad one. Occasionally 
it springs from a conviction that 
" without reputation he can neither 
get good, nor do good." A few 
young men need commendation as 
a safeguard against despondency. 
An intelligent gentleman, from a 
neighbouring congregation, called 
to-day, at my study. Upon my 
asking him how his young preacher 
was succeeding, after expressing a 
very favourable opinion of his worth 
both as a man and a minister, he 



PROBATIONER. 167 

added this very remarkable expres- 
sion — " My chief objection to him 
is, that he has too poor an opinion 
of himself." I do not remember to 
have heard that said, more than 
two or three times before, in all my 
life. 

I greatly fear that the anxiety 
referred to, often arises from a 
censurable fondness for mere popu- 
lar applause. Some betray this 
worse than childish vanity, by 
alluding to their own preaching 
with the evident design to elicit a 
favourable opinion. This is made 
evident by the mariner in which it 
is done, and by the description of 
persons before whom it is done. 
I have known a few in my life, 
whose boldness and vanity were 



168 LETTERS TO A 

sufficient to enable them to put the 
question in all its naked deformity, 
" How did I preach to-day ?" 

Dr, Conrad Speece once told me, 
that he was cured of this, very 
early in his ministry, in this way. 
As he rode from church in company 
with a plain but sensible ruling 
elder, after preaching a sermon 
which he thought very good for a 
beginner, he became very anxious 
to learn how it was regarded by the 
elder ; and to this end, he made a 
variety of remarks, well fitted, as 
he supposed, to draw forth his 
views. But the old elder continued 
doggedly silent. At length he put 
the question directly, " What did 
you think of my sermon to-day ?" 
To which he replied, " Well, Mr. 






PROBATIONER. 169 

Speece, if I must tell you, I think 

that if I could preach as well as 

you did to-day, I could preach a 

great deal better." 

The truth is, there are manv 

ways in which one soon learns 

quite as much as it is safe for 

him to know of the esteem or 

disesteem in which he is held, 

without proclaiming his folly in the 

way now under consideration. One 

who really loves his work for its 

own sake, who preaches the gospel 

to glorify Grod in the salvation of 

sinners, will not, and need not ask, 

How am I esteemed? but the burden 

of his cry will be, Am I really 

preaching the gospel as my Master 

expects me to preach it ? Am I 

doing good ? Is the cause of Christ 
15 



170 LETTERS TO A 

reviving — the church advancing 
under my poor ministry ? There 
is no great difficulty in answering 
these questions. And when they 
can be answered affirmatively, he 
is more than contented, he is happy. 
And what may be thought of his 
sermons or his manners, becomes 
a matter of small consequence. 

But all the blame in this matter 
should not be laid at the door of the 
young preacher. This weakness is 
sometimes fostered in him by well 
disposed but silly people. There 
is a manner of talking about 
preachers, a freedom of censuring 
or applauding, which must, in some 
way, reach their ears. Even chil- 
dren are permitted and encouraged 
to take a part in this sort of con versa- 



PKOBATIONER. 171 

tion. All of every age claim to 
know just when a man preaches, 
visits, and dresses as he ought ; 
when, in a word, he succeeds, and 
when he fails in all the great duties 
of his sacred calling. And whether 
all admit the obligation, or not, to 
aid, to the extent of their ability, in 
sustaining him, they claim the 
privilege of applauding or censuring 
him to their own heart's content. 
]N^ow when a young preacher finds 
himself in the midst of a people 
who act thus towards his predeces- 
sors and others, it is not strange if 
he thinks, that it is of the utmost 
consequence for him to know in 
which of the two strains — whether 
extravagant eulogy or cutting re- 
buke — they speak of him. The 



172 LETTERS TO A 

truth is, all of us deserve blame — . 
all too often forget the great objects 
and ends of the Christian ministry. 
All look too low, and aim too low. 
We either provoke God by idolizing 
or despising the instrumentality 
which he has ordained for the 
conversion of the world. 

And yet the approbation of the 
wise and the good, prudently and 
seasonably given, is the sweetest 
solace to the preacher's heart, save 
the favour and the blessing of the 
God he serves. 

Your fokd father. 



PROBATIONER. 173 

LETTER VI. 

My dear Son: — I shall close 
these letters, by asking your atten- 
tion to the consideration of revivals 
of pure religion. To this result all 
that the minister says and does 
must tend. For this he must study, 
visit, preach, and pray : for in the 
reviving of pure religion, he finds 
the consummation of the heart's 
purest desires. Until this is at- 
tained, he labours in vain and spends 
his strength for nought, and with- 
out this, he goes weeping to the 
grave. 

Revival is a comparative term. 
It may indicate the present state of 
religion, compared with its state at 
some previous time ; or it may de- 

15 « 



174 LETTEKS TO A 

note the state of religion in one 
country, compared with it in some 
other country. In its literal accep- 
tation, it implies the existence of 
spiritual life. He cannot be said to 
be revived, who never lived. Some- 
times the state of things indicated 
by this term is restricted to one con- 
gregation, one family, or even to a 
single individual. When asked 
then what is meant by a revival of 
religion, it is sufficient to reply, 
that it is the increased power of re- 
ligion, more or less extensively dif- 
fused. It is the obvious growth, 
the expansion of the life of God in 
the soul of man. It denotes an un- 
usual and visible display of the 
grace of God in increasing the 
purity and power of true religion 



PEOBATIONEE. 175 

in the hearts and lives of believers, 
attended or followed by the awaken- 
ing and conversion of sinners. It 
is an extraordinary work of Grod, 
seen, " in making the wicked right- 
eous and the righteous more right- 
ous." 

Are all or any of the churches 
in a revived state? This is but 
another method of asking, Does the 
work of conversion and sanctifica- 
tion keep pace with the means em- 
ployed for this purpose ? Consider 
the sermons preached, the Sabbath- 
schools taught, the tracts and books 
distributed, the number of our So- 
cieties and Boards, and then say, 
what ought to be expected, what 
should be the results ? 

"We may form societies for reli- 



176 LETTERS TO A 

gious purposes, we may found in- 
stitutions for secular and sacred 
learning, we may erect costly houses 
of worship ; but to regard these 
things alone as proof of a revived 
state of religion, would be most fal- 
lacious. There is no little fascina- 
tion in the mere working of this 
vast machinery. Prompt and gen- 
erous activity may be displayed in 
all this, without much true piety ; 
for activity and bustle, noise and 
display, are all pleasing to the un- 
sanctified heart ; and then a public 
sentiment has been created, and 
such broad and ample channels 
have been opened through which 
expression may be given to that 
public sentiment, through the ros- 
trum and the press, that all we say 



PROBATIONER. 177 

and do, may be little more than a 
mere yielding to the current, a seek- 
ing to advance our own reputation. 

We must then seek for other 
tests. We must look at the state 
of piety in its more hidden and less 
ostentatious forms. We must look 
to the fountain rather than to 
the stream. We must seek to 
ascertain the extent to which 
divine truth controls the heart, and 
regulates the life of the peo- 
ple. We must endeavour to learn 
the extent to which love for the 
gospel is evinced by its generous 
support, and also by the more hid- 
den forms of pastoral labour. 

Sad mistakes have existed, and 
to some extent still exist, as to the 



178 LETTEES TO A 

nature, and the best means for se- 
curing true revivals of religion. 

Some twenty-five years ago, the 
land was w T ell nigh filled with what 
was then technically called revival 
preachers, and revival measures. 
These were the men, and these the 
measures with w T hich wisdom would 
die, and upon the success of which 
the growth, if not the life of the 
church depended. Rare scenes 
were enacted, and much mischief 
done in those days. To some 
churches hundreds were sometimes 
added in a week. Many of these 
had exhibited no religious concern 
— many indeed were openly profane 
forty-eight hours before they were 
received into the church. The strang- 
est thing of all is, that in no part of 



PROBATIONER. 179 

Virginia, were these excesses carried 
so far, or did so much mischief as 
in our beautiful Valley. The 
churches in this region have not 
yet regained their wonted numbers 
and strength. 

The great error of the times con- 
sisted in adopting a style of preach- 
ing, and a system of unscriptural 
measures, designed for excitement. 
The more of this the better. To un- 
fold the great doctrines of the word 
of God — to aim at enlightening the 
understanding — to advise the taking 
of time to read and reflect, was, in 
the coarse language of the day, " to 
snow upon the people." This course 
was only fitted to " pour water upon 
the fire." The pastor was contemned 
and sometimes insulted in view of 



180 LETTEKS TO A 

his own people. Of this I witnessed 
the following illustration. A young 
licentiate wrote somewhat uncere- 
moniously to an esteemed pastor, 
proposing to hold a protracted meet- 
ing at his church. The request was 
granted. The first day of the meet- 
ing came. They met at the church, 
and the licentiate and the pastor 
stood together, surrounded by a 
crowd of gentlemen in the church 
yard. " Now, brother," said the 
former to the latter, you have to do 
one of three things. You must fall 
in with me, get out of the way, or 
be run over." 

I would not even refer to these 
sad scenes, at this late day, if there 
did not occasionally appear symp- 
toms in some places of a desire to 



PEOBATIONEE. 181 

have them re-enacted. Shun them 
as you would " the pestilence that 
walketh in darkness and the des- 
truction that wasteth at noonday." 

Of genuine revivals of true reli- 
gion every man must be a warm 
friend who loves the Saviour, and 
feels compassion for the souls of 
men. In the midst of such, was the 
church of Christ first founded, and 
by means of such, it has ever been 
the most prosperous. The Acts of 
the Apostles contains little else 
than a series of the most blessed re- 
vivals. 

I am not the enemy, but the 
friend, of religious excitement, pro- 
vided it be produced by a clear per- 
ception of God's truth. Indeed no 
other excitement deserves to be 
16 



182 LETTERS TO A 

called religious. The truth under- 
stood, applied and felt in its true 
import and just proportions, never 
yet produced too much excitement. 

If I am asked what are the lead- 
ing characteristics of a genuine re- 
vival of true religion, it gives me 
great pleasure to reply in the words 
of my venerated preceptor, Dr. John 
H. Rice. As far back as the year 
1822, he spoke on this subject as 
follows : 

" No man ought hastily to con- 
clude that he is the subject of the 
reviving influences of the Holy 
Spirit. When under any excite- 
ment, we ought, as we love our 
souls, most carefully to consider its 
bearings on the various parts of the 
christian character. If its operation 



PROBATIONER. 183 

on all be equable and salutary ; if 
repentance and humility be deep- 
ened ; if love to Grod and our neigh- 
bour be enkindled, faith strength- 
ened, submission rendered more 
entire, the work of patience more 
perfect, obedience more prompt : in 
a word, if the whole tendency be to 
humble us, to exalt Christ, and 
promote holiness, we maybe assured 
that it is a genuine work, and 
rejoice in it as a precious favour 
bestowed by a gracious God." JNow 
when this mighty, moral improve- 
ment, this symmetrical increase of 
all the features of the true child of 
God, as portrayed by Dr. Rice, is 
witnessed as general in a given 
church, then is that church revived. 
But this is quite a different thing 



184 LETTEES TO A 

from that " series of excitements 
and collapses," which leaves the 
individual christian, and the church 
at large, as weak and worldly 
minded, as far from God, and as 
unfit for heaven, as it found them. 

Dr. Rice says, " That which gives 
new life, should not leave us as 
though we were half dead. That 
which communicates new strength, 
ought not to leave us weaker than 
before." See Literary and Evan- 
gelical Magazine, vol. 5, page 301. 
You will there find many profound 
thoughts on this important subject. 

It is a mistake to suppose that in 
order to have a revival, some means 
must be put in operation different 
from the ordinary means of grace. 
Even protracted meetings, held 



PEOBATIONER. 185 

with a view to bring about a 
revival, are to be avoided. Such 
meetings should be regarded as the 
effect rather than the cause of a 
revival. When the ordinary meet- 
ings for prayer are better attended 
than usual ; when the prayers of 
those who lead in the devotions are 
more than ordinarily short, earnest, 
and spiritual ; when irreligious 
persons, not accustomed to attend, 
are seen at these meetings ;• when 
the congregations on the Sabbath 
are larger and more solemn than 
usual ; when the members in their 
social intercourse are known to 
speak often one with another on 
the state of the church, and the 
desirableness of a revival ; when 

cases of awakening, even few in 
16* 



186 LETTEKS TO A 

number, are discovered to exist, 
then it is safe to conclude, that the 
prayer of faith has been offered, 
that God is near, and then a pro- 
tracted meeting may be held with 
safety and profit. 

And when the precious work 
becomes general, there should be 
no great multiplication of meetings, 
nor any suspension of ordinary 
business. Upon the Charlottesville 
Female Academy, from 1838 to 
1848, Grod was pleased to send 
several seasons of refreshing. And 
in no case, even when the interest 
among the young ladies was deep- 
est, and most general, was a single 
recitation omitted, or duty ne- 
glected. Indeed, at such times 
there was generally the hardest 



PROBATIONER 187 

study and the best recitations. The 
subjects of the work were told, 
that their regularity and industry 
in their daily duties, would be 
regarded as among the best evi- 
dences that they were truly conver- 
ted to God. 

The religion of the Bible was 
not intended for angels but for 
men ; and for men as social beings, 
necessarily engaged in the honest 
and useful callings of the world. 
The young convert must learn at 
once that he is to constitute a part 
of " the light of the world — the 
salt of the earth ;" and to act this 
part, he must keep every duty in 
its appropriate place — always, how- 
ever, subordinating the temporal 
and transitory, to the spiritual and 



188 LETTERS TO A 

eternal. If this be not done, he 
will be alternately religious and 
irreligious. He will burn and 
freeze by turns. His progress, if 
he advance at all, will be spasmo- 
dic. 

This subject will be resumed in 
my next, which shall be the last 
with which I propose to trouble 
the public through you. 

Your fond father. 



LETTER VII. 



My dear Son, — It is a matter of 
great consequence to determine 
upon the best means of ascertaining, 
who are in an awakened state of 
mind. It was once common, even 



PROBATIONER 189 

in portions of our own church, to 
call the anxious, in the face of the 
whole congregation, to occupy certain 
seats that they might be conversed 
with, and prayed for. The evils of 
this system are now so well under- 
stood, and so cordially admitted, 
that I shall content myself with 
saying, an experience of thirty 
years in the ministry, has only 
heightened my admiration of the 
men who succeeded in its overthrow. 
The pastor should occasionally 
—even in times of great apparent 
coldness — express from the pulpit 
the hope, that there may be one or 
more in the congregation, anxious 
to know the way of life, and if so 
he should request them to let him 
know it, either by calling at his 



190 LETTERS TO A 

study or addressing to him a note. 
The latter is an admirable plan, 
and has often been adopted with 
signal success. Where the congrega- 
tion is divided into districts, with a 
ruling elder assigned to each, 
whose business it is to visit, and 
prudently to seek out such cases 
and make them known to the 
pastor, the work is done as it can 
be done in no other way. Many, 
very many, have been actually 
brought to my study in this way, 
of whose seriousness I should other- 
wise have known nothing. 

Personal appeals to individuals 
must be made, but always with the 
greatest prudence. Rarely, if ever, 
should this be done in the presence 
of others, and always done with 



PROBATIONER. 191 

great tenderness and brevity. Pro- 
longed, sermon-like addresses to 
the unconverted, rarely do good, 
and often do harm. " A word fitly 
spoken, how good is it." Let the 
length of the personal address be 
determined by the reception it 
meets with. In seeking to win, we 
must be careful not to repel ; in 
seeking to cure, we must not kill. 
" Give conscience fair play," was 
all Dr. JNettleton once said to a 
gray headed sinner — and, u Young 
friend, you must not forget that 
you have to die," was all that Rev. 
J. W. Douglass once said to a gay 
young lady, and in both cases, the 
result was the hopeful conversion 
of the person thus addressed. 
The inquiry meeting, held in the 



192 LETTERS TO A 

pastor's study, or in some other 
suitable place, has my cordial 
approbation. But this must be 
managed with much wisdom. 
Seldom, if ever, should there be 
singing at such meetings. In the 
language of Dr. Nettleton, " Young 
converts may be sung or may sing 
themselves into higher attainments 
in knowledge and piety," but I do 
not think that the awakened sinner 
is often converted bv such means. 
Singing is not well adapted to his 
state of mind. JS T or should there 
ordinarily be much conversation 
with individuals at such meetings. 
A short and appropriate portion 
of scripture should be read, and 
briefly expounded. Two or three 
prayers may be offered. The 



PROBATIONEE. 193 

pastor must be supposed to know the 
state of mind, in its various stages, 
of those who attend such meetings. 
And he must frame his remarks 
accordingly. When practicable, 
two ministers, or the pastor with 
one or two ruling elders, should 
attend, and they should converse 
together in the hearing of the inqui- 
rers, asking and answering such 
questions of each other, as an 
intelligent inquirer might be pre- 
sumed to ask. The truly awakened 
are never flippant, and always 
express their feelings with the 
utmost difficulty. Bunyan tho- 
roughly understood this when he 
sketched the character of Mr. 
Talkative. 

Too much conversation with the 
17 



194 LETTEKS TO A 

anxious sinner, at any time and in 
any place should be avoided. Such 
persons cling to the minister — will 
see and converse with him, if 
possible, many times in a day. 
His self-righteous spirit turns in 
this direction, and, of course, turns 
away from Christ. On one occasion, 
among more than forty anxious 
sinners, there was an intelligent 
lawyer. He and his wife were 
awakened about the same time. 
Their pastor had conversed and 
prayed with them at least three or 
four times. At the last of these 
interviews, held in their own 
parlour, a full hour was spent in 
reading and expounding the 51st 
Psalm and in prayer. The w T ife 
entertained a feeble and tremulous 



PROBATIONER. 195 

hope. The husband was still in 
total darkness. He was born of 
l^ious parents, had been baptized in 
infancy, and was brought up after 
the good, old Scotch-Irish fashion. 
He had received a collegiate educa- 
tion, and notwithstanding all this 
— within two hours after the long 
interview just described, he hastened 
to the parsonage to learn what he 
must do to be saved. Thus do 
sinners of all sorts cling to human 
advisers and helpers, and thus it is 
that they will not come to Christ 
until every other refuge fails. 
Hence it is often mischievous to 
give them too much mere human 
help. 

The number of public meetings 
should not be greatly increased 



196 LETTEES TO A 

during a revival. This however 
should be determined by circum- 
stances. Both the number and 
kind of meetings may be varied by 
the amount of preaching the people 
ordinarily enjoy, and by the amount 
of religious instruction they enjoyed 
in childhood, and subsequently. 
Where this has been sound and 
abundant, and where a taste for 
reading prevails, and where good 
books abound, there should be no 
great multiplication of meetings. 

Nor should the subjects discussed, 
nor their method of treatment differ 
materially from the ordinary minis- 
trations of the sanctuary. Grod 
sometimes owns and blesses one 
class of subjects, and sometimes an- 
other. The first case of conversion 



PROBATIONER. 197 

which occurred at the commence- 
ment of a revival in Rockbridge, 
obviously resulted from God's bless- 
ing on the reading of " Thoughts on 
Family Worship," by Dr. James 
W. Alexander. And another ex- 
tensive revival is known to have 
commenced with a sermon preached 
on the same subject. God's truth 
baptized by the spirit of supplica- 
tions, and preached in faith, per- 
forms the work. 

Still, there must be adaptation. 
Some subjects are peculiarly fitted 
to awaken, others to guide, and 
others to confirm and establish in 
the faith. The word of God must 
be rightly divided that each may 
have his portion in season. The 
17 * 



198 LETTERS TO A 

babe must have its inilk, and the 
grown man his meat. 

Ordinarily, the frequent conver- 
sion of the impenitent is preceded 
by the revival of the church. But 
this is not always the case. On 
more than one occasion I have 
known numerous accessions to be 
made to the church, when not more 
than three or four of the members 
seemed to be in the least revived. 
I knew an accession of sixty to be 
made to a large church, when the 
revival proper did not appear to 
extend to over one third of the en- 
tire membership. 

Sometimes Grod carries on a 
gracious work with very little in- 
strumentality. One of the most 
blessed revivals ever enjoyed by the 



PROBATIONER. 199 

College church in Prince Edward, 
occurred about two years after the 
death of Dr. Moses Hoge, before 
the church had obtained another 
pastor, and when they had enjoyed 
very little preaching. " The great 
revival" at Briery commenced very 
soon after the death of Mr. Lyle, 
and before the people had secured 
a successor. In another church, 
which I dare not name, a precious 
revival commenced, w r hen the pas- 
tor, from ill health, was unable to 
preach, or even leave his room. A 
large majority of the cases of con- 
version occurred in the space of 
some three or four weeks, within 
which time, the church bell was not 
rung, nor the doors of the sanctuary 
opened. The only public services 



200 LETTEES TO A 

during all this time, were held in 
the pastor's study or parlour, and con- 
ducted as he sat in an easy chair or 
reclined on a sofa. 

Such statements might be greatly 
extended. But I weary the printer 
and weary the reader. Rely upon 
it, Ave dishonour Grod, and grieve 
his Holy Spirit, by magnifying, as 
we often do, this or that man, this 
or that system of measures. On 
such a subject we must not dogma- 
tize. Nor must the experience of 
any one man be made the guide for 
every other. This much is certain. 
The system which puts most honour 
on divine truth, which most effect- 
tuallv exalts God and debases man, 
which gives freest scope to the 
prayer of faith, and the labour of 



PKOBATIONEK. 201 

love ; this is the system least liable 
to perversion, and most likely to be 
useful. 

A few words in reference to the 
reception of members into the 
church will close all I have to say. 

In determining the time of 
admission, respect must be had to 
the age, the previous training and 
the degree of excitement under 
which a profession of conversion 
was made. One who has been 
baptized in infancy, watched over 
and instructed with due parental 
fidelity, may safely be admitted to 
the church at a much earlier age, 
than those who have not been thus 
favoured, especially if the attention 
has been arrested, and the con- 
science awakened in the ordinary 



202 LETTEES TO A 

course of religious services. Such 
may sometimes be safely admitted 
at the early age of twelve years ! 
The danger of mistake is always 
greatest in a time of revival. Then 
the mere animal sympathies are 
most easily aroused, and then one 
is most likely to feel merely be- 
cause another does. The too hasty 
admission of young converts to the 
church is an evil. Here too, respect 
must be had to the age, previous 
training, and habits. As a general 
rule, observed now in several of 
our churches, persons should remain 
under the care of the session several 
weeks, as candidates for church 
membership, before they are fully 
received. It is far safer, and, every 
way, better to delay too long, than 



PROBATIONEK. 203 

to join too soon. The really con- 
verted will not suffer so much by 
delay, as the self-deceived or hypo- 
critical will, by too much haste. 
It is wrong to say, as some do, that 
young converts not immediately 
admitted to the visible church, are 
as lambs left in the wilderness 
without a shelter or a shepherd. 
The moment they are converted, 
they become members of Christ's 
mystical body, and enjoy his protec- 
tion and share in his love. I grant 
that it is of great consequence to 
receive these lambs into the visible 
church as soon as we have very 
satisfactory evidence that they are 
lambs. But " one sinner destroyeth 
much good," and it is far better, 
both for the individuals themselves, 



204 LETTERS TO A PROBATIONER. 

and for the church at large, that 
half a dozen real lambs should be 
kept out a little too long, than that 
one goat should ever find place 
within the fold. 

But I must close. The work of 
the ministry is a blessed work, 
only pursue it under the constrain- 
ing love of Christ, and though 
obstacles may sometimes hinder, 
they cannot defeat it. The world 
may frown, but conscience wijl 
approve, God will smile, and you 
will be able to exclaim with Henry 
Marty n, as he died upon the 
burning sands of Persia, " Oh the 
luxury of doing good !" 

Your fond father. 




